


Temporary Residents

by Ihasabukkit



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Gen, Trust Issues, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-28
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:27:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 8
Words: 26,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22441786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ihasabukkit/pseuds/Ihasabukkit
Summary: After a mission gone bad, Heero starts to realize how little he knows about the Deathscythe pilot. Set after the New Edwards Base incident in episode 9.>>Detailed warnings w/spoilers
Relationships: Duo Maxwell & Heero Yuy
Comments: 27
Kudos: 75





	1. Chapter 1

"Heero, I need you to suspend current operations and wait for new targets," Doctor J said in a pleased tone, squinting through his goggles.

Heero frowned at the computer screen, surprised. "My JAP Base op starts on Thursday."

"Yes, freeze that. Just a few days wait, my boy, nothing too long," J assured him. "Copy?"

"Copy." 

J ended the call, not bothering with a goodbye as usual, and Heero sat back and let himself glower. Tossing two weeks of prep time was absurdly wasteful, and having to wait on a new mission didn't do any favors for his mood either. Heero started to stand from his desk, undoing his tie as he stepped to the window. Beyond the boardwalk the Pacific glittered under an evening sky, and beyond that he could see the wreckage of the carrier he and Maxwell had destroyed the month prior, surrounded by salvage ships and cranes.

A shout drew Heero's eye to the scrimmage fields, where students of both gender were engaged in a passionate game of lacrosse. Dropping his tie to his desk and starting on his shirt, Heero sniffed at the display. He enjoyed the convenience of the dining hall, but most of the boarding school trappings at St. Gabriel only served to irritate him.

The games were petty, the minds small, and the competition weak. With any luck, his next assignment would be as far from the academy as the planet allowed.

Heero was sleeping soundly when a knock jolted him awake, his hand instantly going for the gun under his pillow. Whipping the blankets aside, he checked his watch and wondered who'd be rude enough to drop by at 1 am. 

Relena? One of her girlfriends looking for a date? Duo was "out-of-town" for four more days while ostensibly attending a death in the family, so a prankster or OZ assassin seemed more likely. 

Padding across the tile floor, Heero cracked the door and squinted into the hallway, finger tight on the trigger. With dim backlighting, it took him a moment to recognize the school's other resident Gundam pilot.

"Hey." Maxwell glanced tensely down the hall, shouldering a backpack.

Switching his room light on, Heero opened the door to get a better view. It seemed Duo had succumbed to the prep school look, wearing essentially every sports garment he owned - slacks, a hoodie, an oversized athletic jacket and a baseball hat pulled low over messy bangs.

"It's 60 degrees out," Heero observed, appraising the show of school spirit.

"So you gonna let me in? It's business."

Surprised at the lack of snark, Heero stepped aside to let Duo pass, closing the door and locking it behind them. If Duo saw the gun, he didn't mention it, instead shambling to the bed and slinging his bookbag onto the white comforter. Looking relieved to be rid of the weight, Duo slowly lowered himself to sit on the mattress right after. He was clearly favoring his left side.

"Mission go bad?" Heero asked, walking for his desk chair. 

Instead of answering, Duo fished in his jacket pocket for a small object and held it out to Heero. "I'll pay you to pick this apart."

Curious, Heero put the gun on his desk and accepted the microchip. "I'm not for hire," he warned, turning it to look for any logos or signifiers. Nothing.

"Yeah, I know." Duo's exhaustion was clearer now, heavy shadows under bleary eyes. "You can keep that copy, if that gets you interested. Just call the cash symbolic."

The slight rasp to Duo's voice made Heero analyze him with greater interest. While difficult to tell under the layers, he could discern red marks on Duo's left cheek andupper neck. A fight? That seemed unlikely - he assumed a fight would invigorate someone like Maxwell, not make him this irritable. Heero sat back in his chair, datachip still pinched in his fingers. "So what's wrong with you?"

"Well don't beat around the bush, Heero," Duo retorted, pulling his hat lower and giving Heero a small glare. "Nothing. I'm fine." He nodded at the chip as an obvious distraction. "Seriously, look at what's on there. It's too much, can't crunch the whole thing myself."

"Why not just give it to the doctors?"

Duo scoffed, looking disgusted with the idea. "No, you do it. And don't share it with those assholes either. Not yet at least."

Increasingly suspicious, Heero looked at the datachip as if it were poisoned. Duo's rationale seemed shoddy, out of character. And as much as they'd developed a rapport, it still seemed foolish to assume that Heero's gutting of Deathscythe had been forgotten. A revenge ruse seemed more likely than a plea for help. "Is this a virus?"

"What, to steal your shit? No!" Duo looked sincerely exasperated, slumped over his stomach in discomfort. "Look, super soldier, if you don't want the location of every Alliance blacksite on the planet, I'll keep it to myself." He held his hand out. "Is that what you want?" Heero hesitated at that, and Duo nodded darkly. "Thought so."

"You're serious." Heero was impressed.

"Yes, I'm serious. And if you're gonna do this, don't send me any tampered with bullshit, either. I have a copy for reference."

"Fine." Within moments Heero had the datachip plugged into his computer, turning his back to Maxwell to double check his security protocols. Assurances aside, he knew Duo might still have left something malicious on the datachip, something he had to be prepared to handle in real-time.

Several minutes later he turned to pepper the other pilot with questions, only to be blindsided by the sight of Duo prone on the mattress. Still fully dressed, he hadn't even bothered to take his shoes off.

"Maxwell." There was no response.

Heero got to his feet in some alarm, wondering what was wrong. Internal injuries? If so, getting Duo to an ER from here would be a nightmare. Reaching for Duo's neck to check his pulse, he paused when he found him breathing evenly into a pillow, hat crumpled nearby. Deep asleep, apparently.

Heero fought the urge to wake him, stayed by a wave of sympathy. He knew from experience how much sleep deprivation could hurt, and if the data did prove useful, then Maxwell had definitely earned his rest. Instead Heero turned off the overhead light, bathing the room in the glow of the muted television. Questions could wait - at least for now.

After several hours of picking through a complex military filing system, all unencrypted, Heero fully understood why Duo had known the data would interest him. In predatory glee he skimmed logistics spreadsheets brimming with classified information - specs for security systems, personnel biometrics, armament deployments. It even had Treize Khushrenada's office locations.

He found himself glancing at Duo's sleeping form, amazed. He'd known Maxwell was a pilot and a decent hacker, but a master codebreaker? It seemed absurd that the teenager had pulled this off by himself. How much had the Gundam engineers been behind it, or the Sweepers? Heero felt a rush of anger that he hadn't been the one assigned to get the data instead. He couldn't help wondering if J was punishing him for the New Edwards debacle, or had lost faith in his abilities.

Curiosity got the better of him before dawn arrived, and he was on his feet, padding in the blue light to touch Duo on the shoulder. "Maxwell."

"Umph." Duo barely responded, and Heero pushed his shoulder again, impatient.

"Maxwell, wake up."

"Christ, Yuy, what?" Duo slurred, voice rough. 

"I need to know where you got the data. And how."

Duo moaned, rubbing at his eyes. "Ask me in the morning."

"It is the morning."

Duo pried his eyes open to look at Heero beseechingly. "Then the evening. Please, man, I can't even think."

Heero growled, not eager at the prospect of waiting another half day. "If I'm crunching this data for you, I need to know it isn't fake, or altered." Or another OZ trick, beckoning them to attack civilian targets.

"Fine, Jesus." Moving stiffly, Duo pushed himself up against Heero's pillows, still rubbing his eyes. "I hacked the server at Hilshire air base, in person. That tide you over?" 

Heero frowned, curiosity only piqued. Security there was impossible, and Heero would have been loathe to try it himself without support. "How'd you get in?" 

Duo let his head flop back on the pillow, glaring at the ceiling. "Took one for the team," he ground out. Then pulling the jacket tighter around his neck, Duo began resettling on his side, his turned back making it clear the conversation was over. Within moments he started breathing evenly, sleep taking him unnaturally fast. Heero decided to let him lie.

By late morning Maxwell still hadn't moved, hadn't even shifted or rolled over. Heero kept an eye on the still figure while working and preparing his meals in the tiny kitchenette, unwilling to leave him unattended for a handful of reasons.

In the afternoon Duo finally started to stir, Heero alerted by rustling and a faint groan. As Duo sat up slowly, wincing, Heero frowned at his disheveled appearance. The boy's left cheek and the corner of his eye were noticeably swollen, while fingermarks on his neck had blackened overnight.

Duo looked irritated when he noticed the stare. "Morning," he grumbled, rubbing at his good eye.

"Afternoon," Heero corrected him.

As Duo carefully maneuvered himself off the bed, Heero was polite enough to avert his eyes from the pilot's obvious difficulties. He watched from the corner of his eye as Duo stood gingerly, making his way for the bathroom first as expected, dragging his backpack in with him. He emerged looking better kept but just as tired, disappearing behind the dividing wall to the kitchen. He was still in his jacket and overdressed, making it hard for Heero to gauge the rest of his physical state.

"You have anything besides energy bars?" Duo asked over the thump of a drawer.

"No."

The sigh was inaudible, but Heero could imagine it well enough. Duo didn't bitch out loud, oddly, leaving the kitchen sometime later.

"Alright," Duo muttered, making for the plush chair near the television."You have questions. I didn't forget. Well clock 'em to me, pal." Shoving the chair into a better position with his foot, Duo lowered himself into the cushions, failing to hide a wince.

Disliking that Duo still seemed so cavalier about the issue, Heero moved his own chair to better see his face. "Alright, then. Who helped you with the infiltration?"

"Uh, no-one."

"You did that entirely yourself."

"Well, no. The software for the hack was written beforehand, so, there's that."

"Who wrote the software?"

Duo shrugged, looking somewhat put off that Heero would ask. "Me. People."

"You trust these people?"

"I trust their code. Double checked it myself so I can confirm there's no funny business, if that's what you're asking." Duo sighed at Heero's clearly unsatisfied reaction. "Look, it wasn't a direct download from OZ's servers, so they don't even know it's been taken. And the copy we're working off is just hard data and text files, no hidden subroutines, no tracking apps, nothing like that. So you can relax."

"Excellent." Heero leaned back, both impressed and pleased to hear the data was viable. "These locations, the OZ pilot assignments, we could change the tide of the war with this."

"If just info could win a war, pretty sure we would've won already."

Heero sniffed at Duo's dark tone. "You're simplifying things. Taking out the right people and facilities at the right time, that's how we win." He again noted Duo's swollen face, wondering how clean the getaway had actually been. "Was your identity compromised?"

"You think I'd come back here if it was?" Duo asked, insulted. "I'm not a fucking moron, Heero. Any other choice questions?"

Duo remained less than forthcoming, obviously hesitant to reveal anything useful. After Heero gave up, another hour passed with Duo languishing in front of the television. Heero was not pleased to see that it looked like Maxwell was settling in. How long was the boy planning on staying? The afternoon? The night? 

"It could take me a week to make this information useful," Heero finally mentioned, fingers pausing on his keyboard. "So no point waiting for it in person."

Duo didn't look away from the television, arms crossed in the garish jacket. "Sorry, Heero, stuck here for a bit." Heero raised an eyebrow, and Duo glanced at him, pointing at his face. "Dude, I look like a pumpkin. I walk around like this, it brings attention to both of us."

His point held water. But the prospect of a roommate, even temporary, was absolutely unwelcome. "Wouldn't you be - more comfortable healing in your own room?" Heero ventured, voice bland.

Duo's eyes fixed blankly on the television again. "You know if you want me gone, you can just ask."

Heero considered the recommendation, torn. From this distance the pilot's injuries looked mild enough, but even a short walk down the hallway could lead to gossip.

"Stay until the swelling goes down," Heero decided, turning away to hide his growing irritation.The stay would be short-lived, hopefully, and with luck any Duo would mostly leave him alone. 

Duo watched television for maybe another hour, eventually pulling a battered laptop from his pack and balancing it on his lap. Heero noticed that typing looked uncomfortable for him, and Duo seemed to give in quickly to frustration and exhaustion. Dumping the device on the chair, he shuffled back to the bed, this time taking off his shoes and jacket before crawling to the corner of the mattress.

Heero, who had been braced for incessant banter, found himself unsettled by the quiet.

Exhaustion began tugging at his own vision around 9 pm, and Heero eyed the open half of the bed with reluctance, unhappy with the situation in every regard. When his eyes began actually slipping shut he pushed the discomfort aside, preparing for sleep before switching off the light. Slipping his gun under his pillow, he laid quietly next to the other pilot, working not to wake him as he settled onto his back.

But sleep didn't come easy. Staring at the ceiling, Duo breathing softly nearby, Heero had to wonder if the boy was even asleep. What proof did he have anyways that Maxwell wasn't spying on him for the doctors, or far worse, the Sweepers? He kept picturing him slinking around the room, going through his things, trying to find any information of value. Increasingly frustrated with his inability to drift off, Heero tried to convince himself that his worries were paranoias. It was just as plausible that Duo needed his specific help. 

Thinking it over, he finally realized that Duo's loyalty and intent were moot. If an issue did arise, Heero would simply deal with it as needed, with the requisite degree of force as always. His hand drifting to touch the cool edge of his silencer, he found the thought calming.

Heero woke first. Blinking away the grogginess, he sat upright and found that Maxwell hadn't moved, only curled up tighter in the hoodie. He stood carefully and stretched in the dark, glancing at his watch to see he'd only been out for three hours. Heero hesitated before heading for the bathroom, deciding on some instinct to bring the gun.

Shutting the bathroom door quietly, he was grateful for the bright light. But as he turned on the sink to wash the sweat off his face, the worries from the past night came crashing back. He found it difficult to shake the sense that behind the closed door, Maxwell was moving surreptitiously about, planting listening devices, maybe tampering with his computer. If Maxwell was as good at hacking as the last mission apparently proved, he could be capable of anything in that regard.

The worry proved too much to ignore. Turning off the sink, Heero opened the door without drying his hands and stepped into the room.

There was no sign of movement. Maxwell was still in the bed, breathing steadily. Avoiding a pile of schoolbooks, Heero stepped closer and found his gaze drawn to the backpack at the foot of the bed. Now would be an ideal opportunity to get some hard facts, he realized, maybe find proof of a hidden agenda. Mind cleared, Heero placed his gun in the elastic of his waistband and crouched smoothly by the bag, unzipping it slowly and carefully. Duo still didn't stir.

The bag's contents were visible enough in the dim light, and Heero kept alert as he sifted through. A medical kit, a smear of dried blood on the front, took up at least a fourth of the space. Duo's black Catholic outfit was folded neatly at the bottom, while the rest was a jumble of energy bars and random items. Pushing aside a spare laptop and schoolbooks, Heero failed to see any guns or knives. A hidden compartment, maybe? That, or the weapons were hidden in Duo's many layers of clothing.

Heero unzipped a small bag of toiletries, looking past toothpaste and a comb to find what looked to be a bottle of makeup. Heero frowned as he studied the coverup, noting it was old, the paint half gone and drying. Duo didn't seem the sort to care about his complexion, so Heero figured it was probably used for bruising, and had been for some time. 

A rustling caught his attention. Placing the bag carefully on the tile, he kept his gun at his side and took a defensive stance. Rolling over slowly, Duo squinted at him from the pillow. Heero stared him down with weapon in hand, daring him to say something.

Duo didn't. Betraying only a tired befuddlement, Duo began to turn over like he was returning to sleep.

Heero didn't buy it. He kept his position and watched the figure like a hawk, fully expecting Maxwell to spring up with a knife, or a gun. Nothing.

The floor creaked slightly as Heero held position. A moment passed, and Duo rolled over again, this time glaring at Heero and looking hurt. "Seriously?"

At that moment Heero felt somewhat foolish. "Tell me why you're really here," he intoned, pushing the feeling aside in favor of a rationale.

Duo looked gobsmacked. "Why am I...fuck, man. Forget it."

He started to sit up, giving Heero another aggrieved look as the gun stayed fixed on his forehead.

"Alright, Jesus, hands in the air, you see this?" Hands in view, Duo maneuvered his legs over the edge of the bed, shoving his toes into untied shoes. "I'm leaving, now, just like you wanted. I'm picking up my bag now, alright? Nice and slow." Duo stepped cautiously towards Heero. Bending for the pack, he failed to hide a grimace as he pulled it over his shoulder, other hand still raised. He motioned at the chair. "Laptop?"

Eyes still fixed on his target, Heero snagged the laptop with his free hand and tossed it to him. The pilot caught it with both hands, wincing again. Tucking it under his arm, Duo began backing towards the door.

Heero still expected the spin, for the knife to suddenly appear in Duo's hand, but it didn't, not as the door opened, not as Duo stepped through. Pulling his hat on, Duo peeked back at him. "See you around, pal."

The door shut on the tired voice, Heero finally lowering his guard. With a great sense of relief, he felt his privacy embracing him yet again. As he locked the door from the inside, he only briefly wondered what the fallout would be. He shrugged it off. Maxwell would likely be back tomorrow begging for another favor. And at least this way the boy wouldn't take Heero's tolerance for granted.


	2. Chapter 2

Two more days passed without seeing Duo, either in class or in the halls. Heero paid it little mind, assuming the boy was still sleeping or sulking. Classes passed with an effortless monotony - biology, calculus, English literature, Chinese literature, pacifist ideology of the 1700s. All redundant, or inherently useless.

The ping from Doctor J on Thursday proved a welcome respite, a promise of action in his future. He was less than pleased when the mission was hardly a mission at all.

"You need to find that little ingrate for us, now!" Professor G fumed through the screen, scarred face quivering.

"Shouldn't be a problem," Heero drawled, crossing his arms and leaning back in the seat, analyzing the engineer's distress. He'd only talked to G a few times before, finding the short man much less self-possessed than his own handler. And much odder, if that could be achieved.

"Good, good. Excellent," G continued, slightly pacified. "I know that obstinate delinquent is alive, I'm not letting him just blow us off again!" G's face bulged in size as he leaned too close to the camera. "You've seen him then, I gather? He's walking?"

"Yes," Heero deadpanned. "Why wouldn't he be?"

"Need to know basis," G grunted. "Listen, Heero, finding that boy is paramount. Absolutely paramount. You need to bring him to me asap, even if he's unwilling, you understand?"

The situation was becoming more high-risk than Heero had anticipated, and he frowned at the thought of Duo's inevitable fury. "He's stubborn. He might refuse. And restraints could make him... erratic."

"You're right,"G groused, "I'm being reckless." He glanced off screen to listen to someone speak. Another doctor, one Heero hadn't met? "Hmmm. Yes, alright," G agreed, turning back to Heero. "Just tell Duo that we know he's home, and that he needs to speak to us immediately. Tell him that lives depend on it. You getting this? That last part is important, he'll buy that hook line and sinker."

"It's not true?"

"Of course it's true, every action you boys take impacts lives," G snapped. "But Maxwell is being a child. But don't tell him that. Tell him we're... grateful for his service, and eh... eager to ensure his wellbeing." G tapped his lip, thinking, then turned eager eyes to Heero again. "So you said he's walking, yes? When did you meet him? Two days ago?"

"Yes, he came to my room," Heero said, deciding spur-of-the-moment to keep the job commission to himself. "He's bruised, but otherwise looks fine."

"Good. Surprising. Maybe he just needed some time to cool off," G said, a smile spreading under the massive mustache. "And you. Everything is going well?"

Heero nodded. "Yes."

G smiled again, greatly mollified. "Very good. Then get this silly little task done, and we'll get back to the real nitty gritty. Good job, boy." The screen blinked to black.

Duo's door wasn't far, just a left down the long hall that made the top floor of the boy's wing. Walking past peach walls and tasteless red doors, Heero felt a surge of worry. He realized that after the gun incident, he wasn't even sure Duo was still on campus. What if the pilot had packed his gear and headed back out to Deathscythe? Heero could be stuck chasing him around the planet.

Reaching the door, Heero knocked, and waited. A full two minutes soon passed, enough time for Heero to consider reaching for his lockpick. Finally he heard footsteps and the door creaked open, the lock stopping it at a crack. Damp bangs partly obscuring his face, Duo glared at him.

"What."

"Need to talk to you."

"No thanks."

"It's important," Heero said. He kept his face as icy as possible, trying to be impervious to Duo's suspicious scrutiny. Then grimacing, Duo shut the door, the lock clattering before the door opened to let him in.

Heero appraised the room as he entered, having never bothered to come inside before. The layout was similar to Heero's but reversed, bed on the left, bathroom and kitchen on the right. Duo's laptop sat on his desk, screen black, and the room otherwise looked sparse and barely lived in.

"If the doctors sent you, you can tell them to shove it up their collective ass-crack," Duo said dryly as he relocked the door. From the faint rasp still in Duo's voice, his neck injury was still giving him trouble. Frowning, Heero turned to find Duo draped in a school-assigned bathrobe over grey slacks, crossing his arms in a universal stance of unfriendliness. The sleeves of the bathrobe were relatively short, and Heero stared openly at the ligature and fingerprint marks seared on Duo's thin wrists. He hadn't seen those before.

Duo graced him with a glare. "Don't say anything," Duo said curtly.

The pilot walked past and reached for the backpack on his bed, unzipping a back compartment. Heero was impressed when Duo pulled out a Mossad-made anti-bug device, modified somehow with plumbing tape. Not waiting for permission, Duo held it near Heero and clicked it on, the device immediately starting to blink. Honing in on Heero's hip, Duo sniffed in displeasure.

"Hem of your shorts."

"That's impossible. I screen my clothes."

"Machine doesn't lie, buddy," Duo said, tossing the device on the bed. Untucking his shirt to rip at the threads of his waistband, Heero was horrified to pull a 3 millimeter listening device. Duo gestured for him to hand it over.

"I'll want this to analyze," Heero said warningly.

"No point," Duo muttered. "Trust me, just hand it over."

Heero, torn, let Duo take the device and crush it in his fingers.

"It's the docs," said Duo in a vaguely sympathetic tone, sprinkling the silicon dust on the floor. "They've probably been bugging you since the beginning, listening to everything you say." Duo smiled slyly. "I left a scrambler in your place last month, though, so they're probably getting jack squat now."

"Why would they be bugging us?" Heero asked the question rhetorically more than anything, still shocked.

"Uh, why wouldn't they?" Bangs still dripping, Duo suddenly seemed to remember his odd attire, looking self-conscious as he pulled the bathrobe tighter. "Sorry, let me get dressed. Um. There's some food in the kitchen. Y'know, if you wanted something besides energy bars."

"Hm," Heero acknowledged, distracted, Duo snagging some clothes and heading back into the bathroom.

To wait, Heero flumped into the room's obligatory plush chair to mull the bugging revelation. Before, he had felt safe in his room, with enough privacy to be intimate with himself, even mumble his thoughts out loud. On that end, J's intrusion was disturbing extremely. On the other hand, hesupposed J could have done it for operational security, to keep an eye out for interlopers or attacks - so although it was uncomfortable, maybe there were a number of excellent reasons.

Duo eventually walked back out, toweling his hair dry. He was dressed in school slacks with an oversized baseball shirt draped over thin shoulders, hair in its requisite braid. The outfit effectively covered the injuries Heero had glimpsed earlier.

"So, I'm guessing they sent you to get me," Duo said glibly, preempting Heero's prepared speech. "Any chance I can convince you to back down?" Duo still seemed to favor his left side as he sat on the bed across from Heero, his other forearm hovering over his stomach.

"I've been given directives to use a ...diplomatic .... approach."

"Right. Jesus." Frustrated, Duo rubbed at his forehead. "Tell them I'll get around to it." Not pleased with this outcome, Heero pondered his next approach. Apparently his silence spoke volumes, however, and Duo frowned. "They're not going to let this go, are they," he said, watching Heero's face. "Fine, tell the fuckers they can have their fucking data. I'll send it this evening."

That was a start. "They also wanted to talk in person."

"Sorry, buddy, not gonna happen. I'll talk when I fucking feel like it."

"They said lives depend on it."

At that Duo went quiet again. Heero watched as exhaustion crept back into Duo's anger, melting any remnants of bravado.

"So you'll meet them?" Heero asked again, wanting to settle the issue.

Duo went back to rubbing at his eyes, looking defeated. "Alright. Yeah, fine."

Heero nodded in satisfaction. Mission accomplished, he stood to leave.He looked back as he reached the door, finding Duo still hunched over and holding his forehead, not bothering to look his way. Heero wondered if the boy had bruises above the hairline. It would be hard to tell.

"Are you hiding injuries?" he asked bluntly, remembering G's comments about Duo's health.

Duo looked taken aback. "What?"

"Injuries. Internal bleeding, broken bones."

"Christ, man, don't pretend you give a shit."

"I don't. I just need to know - "

"Exactly," Duo snapped, Heero surprised by his vehemence. "You don't give a shit, so don't expect me to spill my guts for you. I'm fine. Tell the doctors that."

No ambiguity there. Heero could practically feel Duo's fury burning behind him as he turned to leave. Hand on the doorknob, he paused again. The mission objectives had been achieved, but he still wasn't feeling right about the whole thing. "I'll be back this week with an analysis," he said, glancing back to gauge Maxwell's reaction. "Although I'll need to explain things in person."

Even in his foul state, Duo managed to look surprised. "You're still working on that?"

Heero shrugged.

"You didn't give it to the docs?"

"No."

Duo's eyes, the one still slightly swollen, narrowed in disbelief. "Yeah. Right."

"No need for redundancy," Heero explained. Duo went quiet, analyzing, obviously reluctant to take Heero's words at face value. Deciding to ignore the slight sting of Duo's distrust, Heero turned to actually leave. Again he found himself pausing at the door, thinking about Duo's face. "Do you need anything?" he asked on impulse. "I'm going to the store this afternoon."

He'd never seen Duo look quite so flabbergasted. "I...um. Ok. More peroxide, would be... good."

"Sure." Before things had a chance to get more awkward, Heero left Duo to his own devices.

It was short work for Heero to slip campus security and make his way to Wing Zero. Standing in the cool air of an abandoned warehouse, Heero smirked as he looked in Wing Zero's inner storage compartment- Duo wasn't the only one with a special collection of spy gear.Stolen on an op and kept hidden from J, he had a surveillance unit able to circumnavigate most jamming technology and evade almost all detectors. It was also a bulky two inches and needed a clear line-of-sight to work, but when Duo did inevitably find it, he'd likely blame the doctors instead of Heero. One way or another, Heero fully intended to find out whatever the hell was going on. 

Placing the item in his bookbag, back on campus Heero hit the convenience store adjacent to the dining hall. Hydrogen peroxide alone seemed like a waste of a trip, so he stocked up on other items as well - bandages, some canned food, a newspaper.

Duo answered more quickly when Heero knocked this time, the lock coming undone before the door opened. Heero didn't get the full grin he was used too, but there was a faint smile, tepidly polite.

"Hey."

"You called the doctors?" Heero asked, closing the door behind them.

"Not yet," Duo said with displeasure, accepting the plastic bag from Heero and looking inside. "Baked beans." He sounded amused. "Thanks, buddy. Hey, I owe you some cash?"

"Don't worry about it," Heero muttered, waving off the twenty Duo held up.

Duo shrugged, returning the bill to his pocket before walking to place the bag on his desk. "Your call. I guess cash doesn't mean much when you have $27 million just sitting in the Caymans."

Heero's jaw dropped, aghast Duo had that figure. It should have been impossible to find; he'd covered his trail immaculately. "You've been spying on me?" he asked, struggling to keep his voice even.

"No, not really. Just did a regular spook session after I met you," Duo said, pulling a soda out of the bag, gingerly popping the top. "I mean, you obviously don't care much about those accounts or you would've covered your tracks more. Shit, I can only imagine how much you have in your real accounts."

Heero stared. He _had_ cared about those island accounts, and he _had_ covered his tracks. Despite his burning questions he bit his tongue, refusing to let Maxwell's goading get to him.

"Um, I can make some coffee, if you want some," Maxwell asked hesitantly, sounding a bit like a shy housewife flustered by company.

Heero was going to say no, when he remembered the device in his backpack. "Sure. Black, please."

Duo looked surprised at his 'yes'. "Alright."

As Duo disappeared behind the dividing wall to the kitchenette, Heero quickly and quietly removed the device from his pack. Crouching by the plush chair, with a tiny pen knife he split the fabric and inserted the device into the stuffing. The tiny camera itself he pushed to the front of the cushion and popped it out like a needle, angling it towards the desk. It would be too small for Maxwell to notice from a distance.

When Duo returned with coffee in paper cups, Heero reminded himself he had no choice but to drink it, an unnatural act to seem natural. As he swallowed, he also reminded himself that Duo was still technically an ally, and not someone likely to slip something in his drink. There had been plenty of other opportunities for the hacker to have done that prior, and he never had. Not yet.

Noting the silence, Heero took that as his cue to leave. "You'll be in class again soon?"

"Sure, why not. Biology, maybe."

Heero nodded. "See you then." He went for the door, smiling the minute it had closed behind him.Just minutes before he had still felt intrusive and even guilty about bugging Maxwell, but Maxwell knowing his private financials was enough to change his opinion. As far as he was concerned, spying was now in open season. 

The conversation between G, J, and Duo ended up progressing nothing like Heero had expected. Watching the livestream from the glow of his computer screen that evening, Heero had to turn down the volume several times.

"What the hell were you thinking, you snot-nosed shit, keeping the data like that for yourself?" G ranted, practically spitting with rage. "I've had to hold off on operations for three days now because of you!"

Duo was slouched in his office chair, still overdressed in a hoodie with his arms crossed obstinately. The angle let Heero see some of both Duo's and G's expressions, but not much.

"And worse yet," G sneered from the laptop screen, "I know you modified it! How dare you! I need unsullied data for saving lives, and you just stick your little code-monkey paws in there? Now how'm I supposed to trust what I'm working with?"

Duo didn't react, arms still crossed and head bowed.

"You need to bring your boy in line," J's deeper voice said offscreen. "If I'd had Heero do this mission, he never would've pulled a stunt like this."

G glared offscreen. "Oh, balderdash, Yuy couldn't have managed the hacking or that infiltration."

"He wouldn't have let himself get caught, at the least."

That seemed to bring Duo to life. "Oh no you don't, you old sonofabitch," Duo snarled, sitting upright, "you do not put that on me!"

"Duo's right in that regard," G agreed smugly, "it's not his fault. Just bad luck, really - "

"Oh no, not bad luck," Duo snapped. "What happened in there was fucking inevitable! Your shitty plan put me in there with no backup, no escape plan, nothing. I never should've agreed to it in the first place."

G managed to look simultaneously defensive and sympathetic, waving at the pilot with a gnarled hand. "Please, son, calm down. I understand being upset, but remember how inherently dangerous these missions are. I hate to say it, but bad, no, _horrible_ things just happen sometimes - "

"Not when I plan shit myself they don't!"

"Oh _really_?" G sneered, the show of sympathy gone. "And what would you have done so differently?"

"I would've fucking protected myself and gotten out of there, cover be damned."

"Then why didn't you?"

"Because I was getting out that _oh-so-precious_ war-ending data for you, you asshole. You remember, don't you, the intelligence mother-load you raved would save millions of lives? You and your goddamn fucking mission parameters trapped me in there!"

"Calm down, your neighbors will hear you!" G scolded, Duo's chest heaving in anger. Even from a distance, Heero could see his face was red. "Look, boy, we're sorry," G continued in a softer tone. "That should've never happened to you.But now look, you survived! Ready for the next fight! I'm guess what I'm trying to say, it's not good to dwell on the past, not when a whole war is stretching in front of us - "

"Well," Duo said coldly, "I'm starting to think I should just abandon your little war effort altogether. _Again_."

"Don't be absurd!"

"How is that absurd? It seems pretty clear you're trying to get me killed. And I'm guessing you have what, three, maybe four pilots already picked out to replace me?" G didn't answer this time, and Duo shook his head in disgust. "Whatever. I'm ending this call."

"Wait, boy, please just listen," J stepped in, pushing the shorter G out of the way. Duo hesitated at the entrance. "You just survived a hard mission, you're hurt, you're exhausted, it's making you paranoid. Just take it easy for a few weeks at St. Gabriel's, and when you're back up to strength we'll re-think your mission strategies. No more of these solo infiltration projects, alright? They're too dangerous. We'll have teams next time, backup, better equipment. It's unfair what we've been putting on you."

Duo was quiet this time. Mollified? The silence stretched out, J watching Duo attentively through his goggles. "Duo," J said, quietly. Snapped out of a reverie, Duo blinked at the screen as if startled.

"Hm."

J smiled cloyingly, a look Heero knew was meant to look warm and paternal. "You should also know that we've located and destroyed the backup tapes. The ones you missed, at least."

"The... from the barracks?" Duo's voice sounded small.

"Yes, it's taken care of. OZ always has its redundancies, but we're sure we have them all now."

"You..." Duo was obviously discomfited, hiding his eyes. "Ok. You didn't hard delete? No trail?"

"Just replaced the data with old footage," J said reassuringly. "Your cover is entirely secure, lad, so just keep doing what you're doing. Going to class, acting like a teenage boy. You're in a good position, right now, no need to risk that."

"Speaking of which ..." G interposed himself, taking up the lower half of the screen. "No revenge missions on your mind, Duo? Not planning an excursion to Hilshire Air Base, are we?"

Duo shook his head, still looking down. "No."

"Good. Keep it that way. Not something we want you worrying about." G smirked. "And Duo, you should know that we have all those fellas on a nice little death list." G grinned wickedly. "So they'll get what they deserve, eventually at least."

Duo blinked up again. "So you watched the video?"

"I..." G blanched. "Of course not. Facial recognition software, of course." Duo stared hard, incriminating, and J adjusted his goggles awkwardly.

"I don't believe you." Duo's face curled with disgust, but not surprise. "You're both sick fucks, you know that."

Over J's and G's angry denials, Duo switched off the call before slumping back in the chair. Hand brought to his face, every detail of Maxwell's posture translated to misery. As Duo sat, unmoving, Heero found his mind racing over the details of what he'd just heard.

More than anything, Heero found himself shocked that Duo would talk to the doctors like that. Even when he and J disagreed, Heero had always felt privileged to be a Gundam operator, privileged to be the one to finish the missions, to have the training to be the best. He'd always just assumed the other pilots were of the same mentality, but Duo had sounded downright ungrateful.Heero again wondered what had transpired at Hilshire. The call had confirmed that Duo had been forced to keep deep cover in a violent setting, but not much else.

He frowned. Maxwell being so upset about a beating seemed out-of-character. Maybe he'd been injured far worse than he was letting on. Torture, even? 

Duo was still sitting unmoved when J pinged Heero, Heero opening the call with a flutter of anticipation.

"Heero, very good," J smiled at Heero's promptness. "New mission. I need you to shadow Maxwell, make sure he doesn't leave campus without you."

Heero frowned. Babysitting was definitely not the mission he had in mind.

"Oh don't be such a grump, boy, it's not for long." J's cybernetic arm clacked loudly. "Now he's slippery, so if he does get by you he'll be heading to Hilshire Air Base. That happens you alert us and shadow, but do _not_ engage. If it comes to that, we have something else planned. Got it?"

Heero nodded, fighting the urge to ask more questions. The wrong one might reveal that he'd been spying.

"Good. We'll be in contact." Without preamble, the screen blinked out.


	3. Chapter 3

School life progressed normally over the next few days.The doctors didn't call again, and Heero spent as much time as possible mining the Hilshire data. When Duo returned to class Heero began shadowing him as subtly as possible, using his bug to ensure the pilot was actually in his room when the door was closed.

On Duo's second day back in class, Heero stuck with him after Latin. They ended up seated at a stone picnic table in the courtyard, a scenic enough place with dappled light filtered through ornamental saplings.

"So, Heero," Duo said, not looking up from the schoolwork on his knees.

"Hm."

"I know you're following me."

Heero was entirely caught off guard - at this rate, his mission would be exposed in moments. "I'm not."

"Uh huh. You can drop the act, man," Duo said glibly, still writing. "So what's the deal? G sick you on me?"

Heero decided to try a bluff, sighing in mock resignation. "They're worried you're hiding injuries."

Duo's frown deepened at Heero's lie, and he looked both deflated and irritable as he lowered the pencil. "They're worried I can't pilot, you mean. I already told those assholes I'm fine, they're just being dicks about it."

"It's hard to blame them for worrying," Heero continued, Duo gracing him with a raised eyebrow. "You're evasive. You're also... extremely ill-tempered."

"Jesus Christ..." Duo muttered in frustration, poking his pencil into his notebook. "Heero, you know if they give you a dumb mission you can just say no, right?"

Heero, bothered at the irresponsibility of that idea, just sniffed. 

"It's not a joke." Duo's stare was both intent and placid. "Those doctors love you, pal. You could blow up a colony by accident and J would still want you in Wing Zero."

"The most capable pilot should be in Wing Zero," Heero retorted. "If I fail in a mission, I deserve to be replaced."

"And who would replace you? Seriously, man, I'm saying you're the wonder boy. You're golden."

Heero gave Duo a nonplussed look, still finding the idea of ditching J's guidance to be absurd.

Seeing he'd failed at changing Heero's mind, Duo rolled his eyes, returning to his journal. "Forget it. Anyways, have fun following me around all day. I do so many interesting things, Heero. _Especially_ when I know I'm being tailed."

Maxwell stuck to his ever-sarcastic word, and although he didn't mention Heero's mission again, over the next few days the pilot acted annoyingly normal. Avoiding short sleeves or sports, likely gaming the schools' scheduling system to do so, Duo otherwise chatted with schoolmates as always, even lightly flirting back with the same girls and occasional boy that Heero had rebuffed. Not unlike Heero, Duo apparently spent the rest of his time at his computer.

It didn't take long for Heero to find the new status quo infuriating. Babysitting Maxwell meant he no longer had the freedom to leave campus and visit Wing Zero, which felt like a slap in the face.

To deal with the frustration he threw himself into the data, also bothered by unexplained admissions in the call earlier in the week. While the spreadsheets proved consistently accurate when cross referenced with external sources, he remained harangued by the thought that Maxwell had altered something. What or why, he had no idea, and scouring the code for tampering proved fruitless.

Considering motivators, he ultimately concluded that any hackery would likely relate to the detainment at Hilshire. Efforts to find proof of that incident, however, also met entirely with dead ends. Heero soon realized that real answers would require a different approach.

He decided to take the plunge at lunch, the two of them seated in a corner of the pastel dining hall. Duo finished eating first, braid curled around his school clothes while he nursed a coffee, intent on a folded newspaper.

Banking on the public setting to minimize conflict, Heero considered his approach carefully before speaking.

"You know," he started, pushing at his food, "I could stop trailing you if you just showed me your injuries."

Duo looked up from the paper, brow furrowing. "Excuse me? Like..." his expression went from pensive to amused. "Like, you want me to strip for you? Wow, Heero.... didn't expect you to find the mission _that_ boring."

Heero flushed, irritated at the joke. "Not like that. I just need an assessment. You're an unknown right now."

"Well try taking me at my word, and I wouldn't be," Duo said dryly, glancing around for eavesdroppers. "I've told you like fifty times, I can pilot fine."

Heero leaned back and crossed his arms, making it clear he wasn't going to drop it.

"Look, I get that your mission sucks," Duo said under his breath, amusement gone. "But Heero, this is something I'd really, _really_ rather not talk about."

"It's just a few details."

"I'm sorry, but no."

"Duo." Heero spoke sternly, making sure he had the boy's full attention. "I can find a version of this 'tape,' if I need to, but I'd rather you told me yourself."

Duo stared for a good long moment, eyes narrowing.

"You... you taped my call with G." Heero refused to respond, keeping his face impassive despite the pang of guilt he felt at Maxwell's growing expression of hurt. Then hurt anger. "You realize that's fucked, right?" Duo hissed, leaning towards Heero's face. "That actually that's a fucked thing to do to your friend? Jesus fucking Christ, Heero, can you even..." the boy cut himself off, putting a hand to his mouth as he quelled his anger.

"It's a mission," Heero intoned. "Please don't be a child and take it personally." Fuming, Duo's glare only deepened. "Just tell me. Electrocution, drugs? Sodium amytal?"

"Christ, Heero, you really..." Duo now looked more confused than hurt, even pitying. "You watched that whole conversation, and you didn't figure it out?"

"Figure what out." Increasingly irritated, Heero glared at a passing girl to keep her from joining them. She gave a small squeak, hugging her tray closer and changing course.

Duo leaned back in his chair, legs crossed while he hid his eyes under his hand. "Look, just....if I tell you, will you drop it?" His voice sounded younger than normal, almost plaintive.

"Yes," Heero said after considering, finding the deal acceptably vague.

"Fine. Great," Duo muttered in resignation, pulling his chair closer to hunch miserably over his coffee. "Fucking fantastic. So, uh, I guess I'll just tell you how the mission went."

Heero nodded in approval, and Duo grimaced, looking back to his cup.

Loud laughter blared from across the hall, Duo practically flinching at the noise. Not wanting Duo to spook and back out, Heero started to stand, motioning for him to follow. "Outside?"

"Yeah."

Heero quashed his curiosity long enough for them to ditch their trays and make their way to the faux-Victorian balcony, one of dozens at the academy. After scanning the walkway and finding it largely empty, Duo leaned against the stucco railing, coffee still in hand. Heero stepped close enough for them to speak quietly.

"So you know how Hilshire has officer housing next to the base, makes for all that foot traffic as cover?" Duo asked, making eye contact with his cup instead of Heero.

Heero nodded, knowing the schematics well.

"Well, I told the docs I thought I could crack the place - they liked the idea, helped me scope it out." Duo shrugged. "Went fine. Used a normal tech getup to fake out security, fake ID, got into the datacenter no problem. Got out no problem either. OZ's internal security is crap, y'know, overpriced corporate bloatware mostly."

Duo straightened, still avoiding eye contact.

"Anyways, on the way out some navy assholes thought I looked interesting, I guess."

That contradicted Heero's first assumption, that Duo had drawn attention by looking suspicious. "And they interrogated you?" he prompted, finding Duo had trailed off.

"Um, no. They, uh, pulled me in a room and fucked me."

Heero was fed up with Duo's vague Sweeper vernacular. "Fucked you how?"

" _How_?" Duo looked mortified, eyes wide.

"Yes, how."

"I... from behind, mostly."

It took a moment for Heero to realize what Duo was saying, but once he grasped how everything fit together, how ridiculously, _painfully_ oblivious he had been, blood rushed to his cheeks.

Of course. It should have been obvious from day one.On top of the embarrassment, Heero felt a pit of horror growing in his stomach. He wasn't callous enough to overlook that Duo, soldier for the cause or not, was fifteen."They..."

"No major injuries," Duo interrupted, eyes now hard. "Worst is a cracked rib, and the bruises just look bad." The boy tossed his coffee cup into a trash bin, looking sullen. "And if that's enough to satisfy your morbid curiosity, hopefully you can drop it now."

Heero grunted, otherwise speechless. 

"Great." A smile, Heero assumed forced, made it to Duo's lips. "In that case, I'm gonna take a long shower and try not to think about it. See you tomorrow, pal." 

Smile fixed in place, Duo slipped his hands in his pockets, starting to stroll off. Heero just stared after him, frozen to the railing with his face still burning. Images of violence springing to his mind unbidden, he was finding it hard to think straight.

"Oh, and Heero." Duo hadn't made it ten feet, looking back with intensity. "I don't forget threats, buddy. You ever find that tape and you watch it instead of deleting it, there'll be hell to pay." The friendly tone failed to soften the warning in his eyes. 

Not waiting for a response, Duo turned to leave, Heero staring after him as the boy blended easily into the students starting to filter from the dining hall. What exactly had Maxwell just threatened? To kill him? Sabotage Wing Zero? Heero obviously had the upper hand in combat, making a physical attack seem unlikely, but there was another area where Maxwell held clear supremacy.

_Shit._

Fighting the urge to run, Heero forced himself to walk slowly back to his room, taking a different route from Maxwell with his heard pounding in his ears the whole way.

Once inside he went straight for his computer in a panic. Had his system _already_ been compromised? Cursing the decision to ever connect to an unknown data-chip, Heero began a comprehensive systems check, fingers flying over his keyboard. Maxwell couldn't be good enough to hide every trace of himself, he reasoned.

If his computer had been breached or boobytrapped, he'd find it.

It was only that evening, when Heero had failed to find a single incongruity except the need to defrag his hard-drive, that the rest of the day's conversation crept back to mind.

Heero had always categorized assault as just another threat in warfare, a pain to be suffered and forgotten if encountered in the field. However, he had to admit that J's "tutorial" on the matter had been perfunctory, the old man stammering through the topic and avoiding anything explicit. Now he found himself wondering what would have happened if he'd been assigned to the Hilshire op, not Maxwell. Maintaining deep cover through that - could he have pulled that off, completed the mission successfully like Duo had? The doubt nagged at him.

Mind tethered by curiosity, he couldn't help thinking of the video, again considering using his backdoor into J's security system to find a copy. He'd avoided such an intrusion previously, but after learning J had been bugging his shorts he was less inclined to care.

But on the verge of checking, Heero stopped hard in his tracks. Thinking of the content and suddenly disgusted that he'd even considered the idea, Heero closed the browser and put the matter out of mind.

The cold shoulder became apparent in Biology the next morning. It was subtle enough that Heero didn't notice at first, Duo greeting him inanely, smiling as always. After class, however, Duo wandered off before Heero had a chance to catch up.

The trend continued, Duo failing to wait for him after class or simply walking past without stopping, giving him a blank smile instead of a greeting. Heero found it irritating - it meant he had to invent rationales to lurk in the boy's vicinity, not trusting the very hackable school surveillance cameras to tell him the truth about Duo's whereabouts. Since Duo's vague threat on the balcony, he had more reason to care if the pilot actually left campus.

Relena noticed in less than a day.

"I want to know what you did to Duo," she asked regally, having approached Heero in the courtyard. Heero kept his eyes on his textbook, not wanting to waste his time answering. "I know you did something, Heero," Relena repeated, crossing her arms in condemnation. "It's obvious to everyone."

Glancing to see that Maxwell was still sitting on the opposite end of the courtyard, Heero reached for his bookbag and started preparing to leave.

"You should apologize," Relena continued, Heero scoffing as he shoved books in his bag. "Oh don't look at me like that, it's not childish, and it's not pointless! If you do something wrong to a friend, an apology is the only way to make things right."

"He's not a friend," Heero corrected, zipping his bag and swinging it over his shoulder. "And what makes you so sure I'm the one who did something?"

Relena wrinkled her nose, giving him a 'really?' look. "Hmm. So many reasons to chose from." 

Heero rolled his eyes and started to leave, but Relena stepped in his way.

"Look, Heero, you can't just go around hurting people! Duo might just be another soldier to you, but he's my classmate too. We need to look out for each other."

Heero gave her an incredulous look, amazed at how little she actually understood about anything.

"Stop it," Relena hissed, looking actually upset. "People matter you know. We're not just...obstacles, or things you can use. Treating people like that, it's wrong."

Heero at this point was positive she was talking about herself, not Maxwell. "I'll take that under consideration."

"Hm. Well, Heero, I hope you do." Giving Heero a placid look and a small curtsy, Relena turned to leave.

Heero glowered after her, always finding chance interactions with the girl to be perturbing. He still planned on eliminating her at some point, but her extreme naiveté made the thought of an assassination seem absurd - like taking out a unicorn, or maybe the cartoon host of some children's show.

At least for now, he found it hard to rationalize her as a threat, with other people on campus ranked so much higher on that list. 


	4. Chapter 4

Still eager to assess whether Duo's threat on the balcony had been idle, Heero spent the rest of the evening in a student lounge, Duo's door visible down the hall. Duo had already neutralized the spycam, of course, signing a number of obscene hand gestures into the feed before switching it off, which relegated Heero to spying in person or through CCTV. He failed utterly at detecting suspicious activity, finally returning to his room with nothing but the irritation of wasted operational prep time.

Ignoring a standing threat was not in his skill set, of course. He decided to approach the matter more directly in the morning.

Duo's door was open when he arrived, Heero rapping on the wood to announce himself. Duo was perched on the corner of his bed, while Heero recognized the studious Billy Yiang in the office chair across from him. Both boys were dressed in their mandatory school outfits sans jackets, schoolwork strewn on the the bed-stand between them.

Heero knew Maxwell was still probably furious at him, but the pilot didn't let on. "Hey, Heero. Need something?"

"Project from last week," Heero said, crossing his arms to lean against the doorframe. "This a good time?"

"Um, I can go," Billy offered, looking between them with curiosity.

Duo shrugged. "Your call. Just don't forget that program you said you'd write for IT. Still $200, right?"

"Yeah, that's fine," Billy said, collecting his books. "You know, you'd save a lot of cash if you just took the time to practice yourself. Coding isn't really that hard."

"Ha! Easy for you to say, über genius."

"Whatever." Looking bashful, Billy swung his backpack over his shoulder. "I'll see you in class, Duo."

"Yep."

Billy glanced at Heero with interest as they passed, managing to avoid direct eye contact like most people seemed to.

"So what's up, golden boy?" Duo asked as Heero closed the door, not moving from the bed.

Things seemed civil enough, so Heero took the liberty of sitting where Billy had vacated, dropping the datachip on the mess of schoolbooks. "Just a rundown. The rest should be self-explanatory."

Duo snagged his laptop and opened it between them. "Hell yes. Bring it."

Heero found himself enjoying the discussion.

Mostly he summarized the several dozen spreadsheets he'd built ranking potential targets, most with sortable columns detailing assets, weaknesses, in some cases the risk of collateral damage based on chemical or weapons caches.Duo showed real interest, asking questions where pertinent and providing refreshing perspectives, most of which supported Heero's own views on strategy and approach.

After a time he felt the paranoia starting to fade. Perhaps lulled by the casual friendliness of Duo's voice, he also started to feel that things had settled down enough to actually talk.

"So I have to ask," he ventured, keeping his voice mild. "What exactly did you excise from the doctors' version of this?"

Duo looked surprised, leg akimbo while he leaned to scroll down a spreadsheet. "Forgot you overheard that. Shit." He let out a long breath. "Well, let's see, secret hospitals. All the bioweapons R&D stuff. Mostly black-sites in civilian population centers, I think."

"Why? Those targets could be important."

Duo shook his head. "OZ puts their black-sites in places like that as bait. We start a fight that takes out half a city, OZ runs a PR campaign that makes any insurgent group they want look like monsters."

"The doctors wouldn't fall for that."

"Well, probably not. But I'm not so sure they wouldn't sell this whole thing for cash, either. That happens, the whole shebang is on the darkweb in a day, paramilitary groups go batshit, and hurrah! Weaponized airborne pathogens for everyone."

Heero frowned, finding that outcome not entirely implausible. Designing mobile suits was a costly business, and the doctors could be creative in their fundraising, to put it mildly. "The version you gave me, those sites are intact," Heero observed.

"That is _eetiam ipsum jus_."

"Very yes correct?"

"No, I mean... uh, _mucho correcto_." Duo shifted his weight on the bed, giving Heero a serious glance. "Heero, I'm not gonna give you fudged data. It's the real deal."

Heero ignored the assurance, his mind in overdrive. If Duo really had given him the full, complete version, he was essentially saying that he trusted Heero, but not the doctors, to avoid civilian targets. It would be flattering... if Heero believed for a moment that Duo was that stupid. After the New Edwards Base massacre, Heero's instincts in regard to civilian casualties were inarguably FUBAR. And based on his statements from earlier, Duo would _never_ let someone like Heero have unfettered access to the real content. 

He knew then, without a doubt, that Duo was using the whole thing to fuck with him somehow.

"You don't need this," Heero said in clipped accusation, staring hard at Duo's face.

Duo raised an eyebrow at him, looking up from the computer screen.

"You're self-sufficient without my take on things," Heero continued, his anger growing. "You had some other reason for hiring me."

"What? No. This is super useful to me."

Heero shook his head, refusing to be fooled by Duo's nice-guy attitude.

"I don't lie," Duo said.

"Just come clean. Tell me why you came over, after Hilshire. "

"We're doing this again? Really?"

"Bugging my room, somehow? For who?"

"I. Don't. Lie. I needed your help."

"If you're planning something concerning Wing Zero," Heero warned. "It can't be stolen."

Duo groaned and scrubbed both hands across his face, slumping forward. "This is a fucking nightmare."

Heero knew then that Duo wasn't going to give him anything. Instead he'd get the glib comments, the childish 'I don't lie' declarations, evasions and half answers. Heero clenched his fists, feeling the tendons pop. Allies or not, it was looking like Heero would have to use more extreme measures to get the truth.

He took a breath, calming himself before turning to instinct.

Without hesitation he went for Duo's exposed wrists, snatching and twisting before Duo had a chance to react. Duo's awkward attempt to pull away proved ineffective, and their knees hit the floor with a thump, Duo grunting. Heero in one motion had him in an unbreakable headlock, leg twisted around Duo's to pin him against the side of the bed. 

"This isn't a game, Maxwell," Heero said, squeezing Duo's wrists to make sure he didn't go for a blade. "So for once, do yourself a favor and give me a straight answer. What's your scheme?"

A struggle Heero would have been prepared for, maybe a pithy comment or complaint.He wasn't expecting Duo to start laughing. The boy unresisting in his grip, the laughter turned to a cough as Heero tightened the chokehold, angry. Even while struggling to get enough air, Duo still seemed to chuckle under his breath. "Just do what you want," Duo finally rasped, no fight in his voice. 

Was he serious?

Deciding to eliminate the risk that Duo might stab him nonetheless, Heero shifted his position so his thumb was near Duo's neck, then still gripping Duo's wrist, squeezed a pressure point near his ear. Still holding position as Duo went still, Heero kept his fingers against Duo's neck to check his pulse, making sure he was actually out.

He was. Slipping his arms under Duo's back and knees, Heero hoisted him further on the unmade bed. Compared to the 200 pound soldiers Heero usually manhandled, Duo felt light as a feather, barely bouncing on the mattress. 

Low on options, Heero pulled Duo's shoes off to use the shoelaces as restraints, ripping them from the eyelets. As he rolled Duo's limp form, then pushed up his sleeves to tie his hands behind his back, Heero was again regaled with the colorful damage already inflicted on Duo's wrists. It reminded him to work carefully - injuring or re-injuring him wasn't part of the plan.

Afterwards Heero searched quickly for weapons, checking seams, socks, anywhere Duo might be able to reach while bound. He ultimately found five small blades, tossing them in a pile on the bed. After considering, he also checked the bottom of the boy's braid, completely unsurprised to find a lockpick tucked into the soft locks. Dropping it on the pile, he hesitated at Duo's untucked shirt. A full search wasn't necessary, he decided.

Satisfied the situation was under control, Heero carried Duo to the office chair, Duo's head lolling to one side as he was propped against the seat back. Dragging the other chair from the corner of the room, Heero sat across from him to wait.

Duo came to soon enough, blinking through the fog. Heero gave him a few moments to adjust to his surroundings. As Duo leaned forward to pull on his wrists, wincing, he gave Heero a disbelieving glare.

"Here's how this works," Heero said calmly, reclined with his ankle on his knee just a pace away. A tank-top was bunched in his hand, ready to use as a gag if needed."I ask a question, you answer. You _don't_ answer or your pupils dilate, I gag you. Then I find a pressure point."

Duo was starting to look sick to his stomach, eyes burning with reproach. "This your preferred method of conversation?"

"Only with possible hostiles."Leaning forward so their faces were several feet apart, Heero made sure Duo was staring him in the eyes."First question. Are you planning on stealing Wing Zero for parts?"

Lip curling, Duo glared at Heero from under messy bangs. "No."

No sign of dilation, or damning body posture. Heero moved on. "Did you bug me?"

"No. Just hacked your shit a bit."

"What did you hack?"

"Just checked out your system, your backstory. Didn't leave anything behind. Figured you'd find it." Duo's voice was automatic, grim, but Heero could sense the distress.

"Fine. Are you planning on killing me?"

"No."

"Did the doctors assign you to spy on me?"

"Yes, but I told them to suck a dick."

"Why didn't you agree?"

"Mostly so you wouldn't torture and kill me." Duo couldn't avoid snark even when bound, it seemed.

"Why did you come to my room last week?" Heero continued, still staring fixedly.

Duo's gaze became reluctant. "Couple reasons."

There it was. The evasiveness that had vanished for a refreshing six questions.

As Heero got to his feet, Maxwell's face fell. Although he gave Heero a hateful look, he stayed quiet as Heero wrapped his fingers in the boy's hair to hold his head still. The passivity threw Heero off. Fingers resting on Duo's clenched jaw, ready to pinch a tendon to force it open, Heero decided to offer him a respite.

"You can still answer."

Duo huffed, his body rigid, Heero pulling his head back so he could stare into his eyes better. "Just...thought the data might help you. And..." Heero waited for the real answer, not breaking eye contact. "...wanted to sleep."

His goal had been passing out on Heero's bed? The answer was unexpected.

"Explain."

"Hard to sleep sometimes," Duo continued, voice weak. "You know, the whole war and dead people and all that. Plus, always feel like someone's gonna off me when I'm passed out."

That was definitely something Heero could relate to. He mulled over the answer, remembering the exhaustion in Duo's eyes when he'd first visited. Duo's body stayed tense as Heero removed his hand from his jaw.

"So... you just wanted me to watch your back."

Duo didn't answer, breathing shallowly and staring at Heero with a strange, fixed blankness.At that moment Heero realized what he was doing. Sickness began roiling in his stomach - Duo had wanted his protection, a respite from the hell of combat. And Heero was doing this to him instead?

Pulling his fingers from Duo's hair, the shirt dropping to the floor, Heero was overcome by a familiar feeling of failure, the weight of it dulling his mind and making it hard to think. One thing was clear; he had to let Duo out of the restraints.

"Lean forward," Heero said quietly. Duo, realizing he was being released, let out a slow breath, his body going lax against the chair.Heero snagged a blade from the mattress and quickly bent down to start cutting the shoelaces. He took the time to avoid knicking skin, a task made difficult by the fact that he'd triple-wrapped the cords, tight enough to leave marks.

When the first cord snapped free, Heero found he simply didn't care if Maxwell attacked, and moved on to the other hand.

Fully unbound, Duo failed to become aggressive. Instead he brought his arms slowly in front of him, pulling his wrists to his stomach.

Heero stepped back and frowned again. There was a dark stain smeared where Duo's forearms had been behind his back. Old wound re-opened? 

"You're bleeding," Heero observed, voice bitter with self-disgust.

"'s'fine," Maxwell muttered, still holding his wrists.

Somehow the assurance managed to make Heero feel more guilty. He made the decision that now was definitely the time to leave, before things got worse.

But as he got the door, Heero had a sinking feeling that if he stepped out, he wouldn't see Duo any time soon, at least not out of a suit. The boy was going to run after this, and it would be Heero's fault. Failure loomed over Heero yet again, and he decided he had to do something. He could still fix this.

He'd fully expected to never take Relena's advice on anything, ever, but Heero was feeling anything but sound of mind. "I'm sorry," he blurted, not even knowing what he was saying, hand on the door knob. "I shouldn't... I shouldn't have done that."

Too anxious to look back, he waited for Duo to snark at him, or chuckle and say it was fine.

Instead, Duo didn't answer. Wondering if he'd have to say more, Heero took his hand off the door and turned to find still slumped in the chair, eyes staring blankly into the middle ground. Heero felt a flutter of panic.

"Maxwell?"

The cobalt eyes barely flickered his direction.Heero's panic became full-blown. This wasn't just a matter of Duo running - he might have actually broken him somehow.

"Duo," he said sharply, walking over in alarm when there was again no response. Heero crouched in front of him, staring into Duo's eyes. Blank. After waving a hand in his face also brought about no response, and Heero pushed aside the panic for into the stillness of battle mode.

Maxwell was obviously on the brink of some sort of catatonia - an occasional symptom of shell-shock or trauma, and one Heero had been trained to recognize and deal with. That training, unfortunately, had been about as perfunctory as the assault training.

He snapped his fingers close to Duo's nose and the boy jolted, giving him a wide-eyed stare.

"You're bleeding," Heero said matter-of-factly, carefully keeping Duo's confused gaze. He had to keep him focused. "Duo, can you let me look at it?"

Duo's brow furrowed, seeming to blink through a haze. "What?"

"Your arm," Heero said patiently. "Looks like you... _I_ burst some stitches."

Duo looked down to stare at the blood smearing his palm, this time seeming to process what was needed.

"Alright."

Heero stood, expecting Duo to stand up and move towards one of the sinks. The boy just sat there.

"Duo."

Duo blinked at him, again looking startled. "Right." As Duo started to stand he stumbled, unsteady, and Heero kept his hand under's Duo's elbow as he swayed.

He'd been expecting Duo to walk for the kitchen or bathroom sink, but he was unsteady enough Heero motioned for the nearby bed. "Just sit again. Where's your med kit?" Heero asked as Duo slumped on the edge, still looking hazy.

It took Duo a moment of thinking to answer. "Backpack."

Heero grabbed it out and the bandages the needed. He turned back expecting Duo to be unbuttoning his shirt. Duo instead had simply pulled up the white sleeve on the bleeding arm. Above the tapestry of healing bruises, a long scrape near the elbow had ripped apart. It looked too wide and messy to warrant stitches, so Heero pulled out disinfectant and gauze.

"I got it," Duo muttered, holding his other hand out.

After hesitating, Heero handed the relevant supplies over. Setting out tape and gauze, Duo, without preamble, took the bottle of alcohol and poured the liquid on the wound, staring at the fizz of streaming acid without flinching. Heero found himself flinching sympathetically. Popping the cap back with his thumb and tossing the bottle aside, Duo began dressing the wound automatically, placing the cotton and tape with experienced hands.

If Heero hadn't been looking closely, he wouldn't have noticed that those hands were shaking, so slightly it was almost a thrum.

"It's not deep," Duo said distractedly when he was finished, putting extra gauze aside and wiping his hands dry on his pants. "Obviously." Bracing himself on the bed with one head, Duo stood again with a small wince, seeming to actively hold himself steady.Not looking at Heero, he started to walk past towards the bathroom. "Don't worry about the blood, either, I'll get it later."

As Duo turned on the sink, starting to wash off the blood, Heero felt another impulse come on.

"After this. Maxwell."

Duo gave him a placid look.

"Are we enemies?" He asked it coldly, trying to mask any hint of weakness.

"Nah, man," Duo said tiredly, shoulders slumping. "I have no beef with you."

That didn't make sense to Heero. Too much had been done, too many acts of violence performed or attempted. "Why?" he demanded, feeling almost angry.

Duo shrugged, straightening and shaking water from his hands. "The training, the war. Makes us different."

Heero shook his head, knowing that wasn't an excuse for anything. "Doesn't matter," he said bitterly.

"It does matter," Duo said carefully. "Means I don't have to hate you. I mean, I'm not going to trust you again, either, but whatever. Guess that just puts me back at square one." Like putting on a plastic mask, Duo took a deep breath, straightened his shoulders, and then looked at Heero with a smile. "It's fine, man. See you in class."

Taking the hint as Duo started to unbutton his shirt, Heero turned to leave. He made it halfway across the room before stopping in hesitation, his face burning in self-reproach.

"Duo," he said one more time.

"Yeah," Duo said tiredly, not looking up from his shirt.

"I'm not doing that again," Heero said intently. "To you."

Duo's look of despairing disbelief was like an artillery barrage to Heero's gut - he'd seen the same expression when J had promised the boy that things were going to change.

Heero suddenly felt dirty, and complicit. Not sure what else to say, he turned and finally walked out the door, shutting it quietly behind him.

Heero felt compelled to check on Duo that afternoon, troubled by visions of the young pilot sitting comatose in a corner, maybe curled in a ball in the shower. While Duo was obviously resilient, Heero had a creeping feeling that what he'd done earlier was something different.

Duo didn't respond when he knocked the first time, or the second. Aggravated, Heero turned from the door to collect himself, crossing his arms as he considered where the boy might have gone. 

"Hey Yuy, you get in a fight with your boyfriend?" someone jeered in a Swedish accent. Across the hall Heero recognized a teammate from basketball, the gangly sophomore hoisting fencing gear. "You should try flowers and chocolate! It's such a cliche I know, but it works with my girlfriends every..."The tone was joking enough, but the boy still blanched at Heero's death glare."I..." jaw closing with a click, he fumbled with his equipment while hurrying to unlock his door.

Dating? Heero scoffed bitterly as he started down the hall. Despite Maxwell's assurances that morning, he wasn't even sure they were still allies.

Duo wasn't in the shared bathrooms or the nearby study lounge. Heero walked in to scan the faces just to make sure, again with no luck.

Covered in stationary, Billy smiled at him from a chair by the fireplace. "Hey, Heero." 

"Hm." Heero turned to leave, then hesitated. "You seen Duo?"

"Yeah, like half an hour ago. Roof, probably." He was referring to a lightly sloped area between the men's and women's wings, accessible only through a bathroom window and entirely private. The tip proved accurate.

Heero found Duo alone in the sun, reclined with his jacket stuffed under his head as a pillow. With his tie hanging loose and his face shaded by sunglasses and a hat, Duo actually looked relaxed, something Heero found odd. He had to admit the view out to sea was calming. Coming from space, the dramatic weather changes and never-ending horizon were especially alien. 

"Hey, pal," Duo called in greeting, noticing him. As Heero navigated the roofing tiles, Duo pushed himself into a sitting position, looking stiff as he did so. Taking that as an invitation, Heero stepped over the textbooks strewn around Duo's backpack and crouched next to him. He raised an eyebrow at one open notebook in particular - the rendering both untalented and offensive, the whole page looked like a caricature of their biology professor.

"McKinsey," Maxwell explained, teeth flashing under the hat and glasses. "Always thought he looked like a cross between the Sanc Prime Minister and a ferret."

Heero sniffed, acknowledging the characterization wasn't half bad.

"Speaking of critters, saw a crow up here earlier," Duo continued, sounding for all the world like things weren't still incredibly wrong. "Came right up to me, too, beady-eyed little bastard." He snorted, giving Heero a teasing look. "Almost gave it one of those energy bars I pinched from your room, just wasn't sure it wouldn't kill it. You know they make energy bars with flavors right? Same price, same calories, just don't taste like they were made in a factory on Mars?"

Heero felt a pang of guilt- here Duo was doing the heavy lifting at pretending things were normal, when Heero had been the one to mess them up.

"I lied earlier," Heero admitted, tired of smalltalk and guile. "About trailing you."

Smile tempered at Heero's admission, Duo pulled off his sunglasses to look at him in surprise.

"I wasn't assigned to check on your health," Heero continued, filled with self-reproach.

"What, then?"

"They thought you might head back to Hilshire."

Duo looked back out to the ocean, brow furrowed in consternation.After a moment he turned back to Heero. "They tell you to kill me if I tried?"

The question felt like a punch in a gut after what Heero had promised earlier. He shook his head. "Report and follow."

Duo, the cheer entirely gone, looked a little ill. "Fuck," he muttered, leaning forward to wrap his arms around his knees."Those old assholes, they don't know anything about me. Always acting like I'm a fucking two-year-old..." He gave Heero an intent look. "I'm not gonna risk readiness just to take out some nobodies on an OZ base, personal reasons or not. Think what you want of me, but I'm not that immature, _or_ that selfish."

 _I know you're not_ , Heero thought to himself. He nodded, making it clear he believed him.

"Anyways, I'm kinda surprised they haven't sent a hit out on me yet," Duo groused, taking off his hat and starting to fiddle with the brim.

"Why? You're valuable," Heero said sincerely, still surprised that Duo worried about it.

"Maybe," Duo conceded, looking bitter, "but I'm also unpredictable, by their standards." His words were thick with untold stories. 

"You said you left Operation Meteor before?" Heero asked, remembering Duo's argument with the doctors. Before that, Heero had assumed he'd been the only pilot to turn on the original plan.

"Uh, yeah." Maxwell managed to look sheepish, pulling his hat back on. "Threatened to blow it up, more like. Well, tried. Pretty sure G messed with the fuse box."

"You..." Heero didn't know what to think. "You tried to blow up Deathscythe?"

"Not my brightest moment." Duo gave Heero a look of regret. "Thought I could just end things, I guess. Realize now, of course, just taking out Deathscythe wouldn't have changed much."

Heero found himself speechless. The thought of Maxwell actually destroying the mobile suit he was so proud of seemed impossible. The unspoken, perhaps accidental subtext of Duo's admission filtered in. "You tried to kill yourself."

"What?" Duo's countenance darkened. "I mean... technically. That was kind of an afterthought. Was way more interested in everyone else."

"G?"

"Mostly. Back then, I saw everyone there as part of putting a whole colony at risk." Duo shrugged. "Guess it took me some time to figure out what you probably did forever ago - you know, that the smaller assholes are a waste of time."

Heero couldn't argue with that. "Hm." His mind was stuck on Duo's admission, trying to gauge which colony he'd been referring to. Dekim's plan to drop a colony on Earth, or something else? "You mean the colony that built Deathscythe?" Even as he said the words, he knew he'd let his curiosity go too far.

Duo tensed as expected, Heero feeling like an idiot - he'd have been reluctant to reveal that information himself.

"Look, Heero...don't take this the wrong way, I just..."

"Don't worry about it."

Carefully gauging Heero's dry response, Duo seemed to relax, giving Heero a weak smile as he rubbed at the back of his neck. "So I guess we're two peas in a pod, man, in terms of trying to blast ourselves. Have to say, it's kind of nice having someone crazier than me around. Feels a lot less lonely, pal."

Heero tried not to roll his eyes. "Happy to help." He decided then was as good a time to leave as any, before he crossed any more privacy boundaries. He got to his feet, straightening his shirt as the wind tried to rip it out of place.

"Might drop by to steal your Latin homework tomorrow," Duo said, settling back on his jacket and putting the sunglasses on.

Heero tried not to bristle at Duo again addressing him with same bland voice he used with other students - as if Heero were a child, and not a pilot. "Fine." Heero hesitated before walking off, still feeling ill at ease about earlier. He looked down at Duo's improbable state of relaxation. "Are you... feeling alright?"

Duo lowered his sunglasses again, looking up in exaggerated surprise. "Ha. Excuse me?"

Heero founded himself irritated that Duo was making light of it, and at his scowl, Duo pushed the glasses back and snorted. "Relax. I'm fine. _Actually_ , since you're actually wondering. I felt like hardboiled crap earlier."

"You've healed?" Heero found that hard to believe.

"Nope," Duo quipped, smiling up at him. "I'm just doing better at not giving a shit."

Surrounded by sheets of half-completed homework, around 9 pm Heero decided to call it a night, more to avoid sleep-deprivation than from actual tiredness. Sleep, however, proved more elusive than on most nights, and he found himself staring at the ceiling, blue lights from the television splashing across the peach paint. Through the wall Heero could hear dim thuds as students ran down the stairwell, their laughter barely audible.

His mind wandered.

More than anything, he found himself still bothered by his grave miscalculation in force that morning, although it seemed the pilot was tough and mature enough to shrug it off. Fortunate indeed, since it didn't take a genius to see Maxwell wasn't the sort to ignore repeated affronts - hell, Heero had argued that himself after G's thoughtless order to bring the boy in by force. For Heero to let paranoia override civility since then was an embarrassing show of weakness.

Nonetheless, the interrogation had revealed some truths to Heero, not least of which was that Duo's motivations were apparently entirely different than he'd assumed. 

He'd concluded off the bat that Maxwell fit the classic hotshot archetype, eager to have someone likeminded to brag at and brawl with. But actually thinking back about it, Heero could remember essentially no instances of Duo _actually_ bragging at him or acting competitive. He thought back to the hospital breakout, Duo's horrified derision at Heero setting his own leg, even Duo scolding him for standing out at St. Gabriel - in retrospect, each of those incidents could be chalked up to a fretful and helpful disposition. 

Was the brash chattiness just some sort of tick, then? A symptom of nervous energy? Or maybe it was a tried-and-true method of diverting serious scrutiny, to keep cover and hide his actual state of mind.

It had worked well enough on Heero, if so, at least until Heero had decided to push that matter. He winced when he remembered extricating the Hilshire details with the video threat, picturing Duo's anger on the balcony... and felt a sudden surge of panic, sitting stock upright. 

Heero found it hard, no, _impossible_ to believe those feelings had vanished after a friendly conversation. 

Had the whole goddamn thing been fake? Thinking of the sick and hateful glares from the interrogation, Heero suddenly had no doubt that the relaxed attitude since that morning had been a mask, put there to put Heero at ease and get him to lower his guard.

Without a second thought Heero was getting dressed, grabbing his keys and heading for his door. 

He went straight for Duo's dorm, knocking lightly. No answer. Heero knocked again, a rock settling in his stomach at the respondent silence. Glancing to see empty halls, he easily picked the lock, knocking a third time to announce himself as he pushed the door inwards. There was no movement inside.

Closing the door on the well-lit room, Heero found it empty except schoolbooks and scattered school clothes. Duo's laptop and backpack were both missing, and when he pushed open the bathroom door he found Duo's toothbrush missing from the bathroom sink, which Heero felt settled the issue. Duo was gone, and it was entirely Heero's fault.


	5. Chapter 5

The hallway seemed elongated as Heero strode back to his room, fuming as he dodged faceless passerby. He found he was angry at himself, at the doctors' meddling, even at Duo. Hurt feelings or not, at the very least the youth could have given him a heads up about leaving, especially since he knew Heero would be stuck pursuing him. This...this seemed aggressively inconsiderate.

On the other hand, Heero could see why Duo would see him as a threat at this point. He thought grimly about the chokehold, the spy-cam, the forced disclosure about the gang rape. Christ. Of course he'd leave. 

Finally locking his door, Heero pulled up the hallway cameras, naturally finding that both showed Duo was still in his room. Methodically checking for timestamp issues or glitches, Heero found the altered feed soon enough - a student exiting the hall at 6:54 pm, then failing to appear in the connected stairwell. Inconsistencies on adjacent cameras were timestamped to the same minute, making it easy to conclude Duo had fled that direction, probably tampering with the boardwalk cameras beforehand. So what felt wrong?

Heero tapped his foot impatiently, thinking it out.

He finally decided it was a ploy. Duo's recent comments made it clear that he appreciated and even feared Heero's tracing abilities, so it made sense he'd set up a distraction for Heero specifically, to throw him off and buy time. Heero again began scouring the feeds, wasting valuable time and hating it.

Finally he found a new inconsistency - an almost imperceptible change in shading in the lounge around 8:30 pm, too sudden to be natural. The camera was near a shared bathroom, where Heero knew from experience you could jump down a succession of small roofs to the courtyard.

So Maxwell went south, then. Heero felt sure of it.

He looked out the window to his right, at the boardwalk stretching that direction. St. Gabriel Academy owned several miles of woodland along the shore, and its maze of dirt trails were the perfect cover for slipping campus on foot. Heero knew there was also an intercept point, an ill-frequented road marking the property line and providing a clear view of anyone leaving the greenbelt. Heero had time to get there, if he drove.

It was fast work to pack, throwing in weapons, food, whatever he might need to be self-sufficient for a day or two. Pulling a jacket over his school clothes, he paused before shutting down his computer.Report this to J?

Faced with the reality of Duo actually being AWOL, Heero realized he had no idea what the doctors would do about it. Previously he had just assumed they'd intercept any reckless behavior, maybe send in a cleanup team after a revenge spree... but had Duo been right, about G wanting him killed and replaced? The idea did seem outlandish, even wasteful considering Duo's spectacular skill set as a soldier - but Duo couldn't be wrong about them seeing him as unpredictable, either.

Hand resting on the keyboard, Heero grimaced. A hit did seem unlikely, but the thought of mercenaries manhandling Maxwell into a van was starting to make his gut roil. After what the pilot had sacrificed for the cause already, the doctors owed him more than complete and utter disregard.A report would be premature anyways, he decided - for all he knew, Duo was still on school grounds.

Heero kept the headlights off as he drove under dark canopy, making his way along a circuitous maintenance road. The pickup truck, borrowed from behind the groundskeeper's shed, smelled like mulch and cigarettes. 

Rolling down the window, Heero hoped again he was heading the right direction. Trying not to consider that Duo might already be gone for good, instead he tried to puzzle out the pilot's destination. He believed Duo's assurance about not risking himself on Hilshire or small targets, and running to Deathscythe just to nurse his wounds seemed unlikely, so what then?

It better fit his character to have a priority target, at the very least to use as a rationale if confronted. And since J would have tipped Heero off about Duo leaving, the mission was definitively off the books. Heero wondered if Duo had found someone in the Hilshire database, maybe a soft target the doctors had no interest in. But how to narrow that down? Hundreds of examples came to mind, OZ pilots and engineers Heero would have enjoyed going after himself, given half the chance.

He was nearing the outskirts of the industrial district, concrete edifices looming ahead through the foliage. Bordered on one side by concrete buttressing, a shallow river fringed the greenbelt, its sandbanks dark under the bridge as he drove across it.

He turned left at an empty intersection and headed towards shore, the two-lane road hugging the river. The area was deserted this time of night, light pollution from the nearby metropolis giving the sky a sickly glow. To his right, spotlights dimly illuminated the loading docks and shadowed warehouses that stretched for miles in a mess of cranes and industry.

Heero parked by an empty lot, hiding the pickup behind a dumpster and stashing his backpack under the seat. His gut telling him being armed wouldn't go over well if he did actually catch up with Duo, he reluctantly left his weapons as well. Slinking along the tiered concrete heights for another hundred yards, he settled in to wait at a vantage point with a view of both the dark beach and the trailheads near the river mouth. Beyond the shore, distant lights from the salvage operation lined the black waves with yellow.

Ten minutes passed, then twenty, Heero diligently scanned for movement and trying not to doubt himself.

His adrenaline spiked at the sight of a silhouette leaving the trees near the beach. Squinting to see what looked like a baseball cap and all-black clothing, he grunted in satisfaction.He'd been right. Heero started to stand to get a better view. Ankle-deep in the river, the figure immediately froze, seeming to stare straight at him.

Heero frowned, surprised he'd been spotted at that distance. Realizing there was a distinct possibility Duo might bolt, he raised his hands slowly above his head, trying to signal he wasn't a threat. When Duo held his position, Heero kept his hands high and stepped over a concrete barrier, starting to pick his way down the gravel embankment that sloped into the river.

Duo began moving as well, steadily navigating through the sandbars and streams of water to head towards the concrete. He came to a standstill in the shadows of where the buttressing met the sand, stance tense as he waited for Heero to approach.

"Fancy seeing you here," Duo called over as Heero reached the sand, voice cheerful but hard. 

As he neared, Heero could see Duo was dressed more nondescriptly than he typically did as a civilian, wearing just black jeans, a plain black t-shirt, and a black school jacket with a backpack hanging off his shoulders. While he looked unarmed at first glance, Heero knew better, noticing one hand hovering near Duo's belt and the other partly in his pocket. Heero slowed to a stop about six feet away, keeping his palms visible as he carefully lowered his hands.

"Mind explaining how you find me?" Duo asked, his voice calm. 

"Lucky guess," Heero said in all honesty.

"Uh huh." 

"Look," Heero said bluntly, "you can't leave campus right now."

Duo looked unamused. "Is that so. You here to stop me?"

"Not me, I..." the guilt hit Heero like a freight-train, but at this point he knew disclosure was the only option. "Last week, if you went for Hilshire, J told me not to engage. He told me he had... something else planned. If it came to that."

Even in the relative dark, Duo's frown became prominent, the tense posture more aggressive. "So, you're saying what. I leave campus, the docs come after me?"

"I don't know, exactly," Heero confessed, wishing he had more to offer. "He just said they 'had that handled.'"

Duo looked aghast, the friendly tolerance evaporating. "And you're just telling me this now? What the _fuck_! What if I'd slipped campus sometime last week?"

"I..." Heero didn't know what to say. "I doubt they'd kill you."

"Yeah, ok." Duo's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Maybe they'll just kidnap me instead, chain me in a basement somewhere to run simulations or some shit. No big deal!"

"They'd do that?"

"I don't know _what_ they'd do, Heero, they're lunatics," Duo said in righteous anger. "That's the point. Jesus, I can't believe you were just gonna hand me over! After I saved your life like three fucking times!"

Heero, unable to deny how callous he'd been, felt ashamed. "I should've said something."

"No shit." Duo shook his head in disgust, not remotely appeased. "You know, man, this just confirms getting out of here was the right call. I'm gone." Duo hefted his pack and started to turn away, giving Heero a final look of disdain. "See you in another life, pal."

"Duo, wait."

Duo ignored him and kept heading for the shadows of the wharf, Heero getting angry as he started to follow.

"I break mission parameters to warn you there might be a hit squad waiting on you, and you just go out there anyways?" Heero demanded.

Duo, thankfully, stopped walking to turn and glare at him. "Not your business. Go home, Heero."

"Wait until they're not hunting you," Heero ordered, trying to get him to see reason. "J doesn't make idle threats. If he comes after you, he _will_ get you."

"Well then I end up dead, or in a fucking basement," Duo snapped. "You'll get over it." Scowling and pulling the brim of his cap lower, Duo turned to continue deeper into the shadows, Heero again following.

"Just _wait_. This is stupid." Duo ignored him, continuing to move further off campus bounds, and Heero had a vision of Duo's pale corpse in some alley or gutter, shot dead from a distance.A primal panic making it hard to think clearly, Heero found himself reaching for Duo's shoulder, just a few feet away. "Duo-"

Heero glimpsed eyes flashing in anger and a blur near his chest, all so fast he couldn't respond - then an explosion of agony, nausea bubbling in his stomach, and nothing at all.

Heero had to fight his way towards consciousness, his senses colored with diffuse pain. Eventually discerning his shoulders propped against rough concrete, Heero started to shift, only to freeze in agony when pain coursed through his lower half. 

Maxwell had kneed him in the groin? Seriously? 

That was hardly all - a throb in his neck told him he'd been knocked out with the same pressure point he'd used on Duo that morning. Duo, however, had hit him far harder than necessary. Gritting his teeth, Heero carefully pushed himself higher against the wall, sweat beading on his forehead while he waited for the pain to subside.The zip-ties behind his back were clearly too tight to slip, so he took a moment to gain his bearings, letting his eyes adjust.

The dark space appeared to be a drainage alcove embedded in the wharf, Heero propped against the back wall with water trickling from a grate near his shoulder. Maybe fifteen feet away he could make out a thin walkway, and beyond that the sound of waves, likely breaking against the boulders that hugged much of the wharf. Heero could see a pier stretching out to sea on his right, its distant orange lights casting long shadows across cracked concrete. 

Had Maxwell just left him here? 

Heero cursed in a multitude of languages when Japanese proved insufficient, his sense of urgency increasing tenfold. So he'd failed utterly at stopping Duo's departure, then, instead probably antagonizing him into acting even more recklessly.

Trying to quell his frustration, Heero reminded himself there was still time to act before things spiraled out of control. He still had surveillance cameras to track Duo's movements, possibly affording him the chance to intercept whatever J had planned. Or even better... it occurred to Heero that he could use his backdoor into J's security system to find who'd been hired for the job, at which point tracking the agents directly would be child's play.

Assuming he could get the restraints off, at least.

Heero scowled at the zip-ties on his ankles, which made getting to his gear exponentially more difficult. Wondering if Maxwell had been generous enough to leave a wire cutter or knife, Heero began eyeing the nearby debris.

He went rigid at the sound of a scraping noise outside. Unsure who or what to expect, Heero squinted at the opening - only to feel immense relief when Duo's silhouette came into view, peering around the corner.

Seeing Heero in place, Duo stepped into the alcove's walls without a greeting, slinging a backpack from his shoulder to his chest and unzipping it. Heero raised an eyebrow when Duo pulled out the pickup's license plates, dropping them to the ground with a clatter.

So Duo had found his gear then - Heero wondered how long he'd been out. Continuing to rifle through Heero's backpack, Duo began indiscriminately dropping more items into a pile - his medical kit, energy bars, a box of bullets. Based on the racket, Duo obviously didn't expect them to be overheard.

Irked at being ignored, Heero started leaning forward, only to hiss and curl in on himself when the movement rekindled the pain. "Cheap shot much?" he spat out, glaring at Duo's dark figure.

"Pft. It's just a mission, Yuy," Duo said in a sing-song taunt, examining the casing of Heero's laptop. "No need to take it personally."

Fuming at his own words being thrown back at him, Heero watched as Duo tossed his laptop dismissively on the pile, cringing at the crunch. He was starting to understand why J had warned him against interfering in Maxwell's activities. He could be... difficult. 

Duo dropped Heero's pack to the ground and crouched next to it, pulling a utility knife from his pocket to start ripping at a hidden compartment. The new angle better illuminated his features, and Heero found himself watching more warily than before. He couldn't help noticing that Maxwell seemed to be moving differently, an almost manic aggression somehow lurking under lithe precision. 

When Duo glanced his way, gauging his activities from the corner of his eye, the typical smirk had been replaced with a hard, focused maliciousness.Heero's residual irritation was fully replaced by a sense of danger - this wasn't the same person he'd been talking to that morning, or even that afternoon.

"So, did you call this in to J? Wait... nevermind." Duo shook his head, pocketing the knife as he peered into the compartment. "Stupid question." 

Heero finally put together what Maxwell was savaging his pack for. "You're not bugged. There's nothing in there to track you."

"Yeah, well, sorry if I have a tough time believing someone zip-tied in a gutter."

Duo pulled up Heero's favorite combat knife, unsheathing it to appraise the blade. It glinted as he flipped it effortlessly, testing its weight before giving Heero a blank look. With the ominous backlighting and dark clothing, it made him look slightly insane.

Heero felt his adrenaline surge, preparing to fight if needed - even bound, he still had some leverage if Maxwell tried to interrogate him. He tried not to show his apprehension as Maxwell took off his own backpack, slinging it against the wall before standing with the knife in hand. 

But instead of walking towards him, Duo looked the other direction, stepping to the walkway and peering down to the shore. When he looked over his shoulder at Heero, eyes narrowed, Heero tensed - was Maxwell about to throw a knife at him? No - instead, the youth looked back out to the rocks, apparently trying to judge distance. He flipped the knife again.

After a moment Duo lowered the blade, rubbing at the back of his neck and looking frustrated. "Fuck." A scowl visible under the brim of his hat, Duo stepped back into the alcove and dropped the knife on the pile, giving Heero a serious look. "Alright, pal." 

Heero's confusion was enormous as Duo started towards him, stopping a pace away before crouching down, making eye contact at Heero's level.

"So. Since I can't trust you to get free without maiming yourself, we're doing it this way. I'm gonna knock you out again. You'll wake up. I'll be gone. You'll go home, quit accepting stupid missions and stalking your allies," Duo said, starting to sound heated, "and maybe, hopefully, briefly enjoy being a teenager before J blows you up in some insane kamikaze mission. Sound good?"

Heero bristled at the condescending tone, but didn't reply, clearly having no say in whatever came next. 

Duo started to stand and come closer, and Heero tensed for a fight. Before he came too close, however, Duo stopped, looking at Heero suspiciously. 

"You're just waiting for me to get close, aren't you."

Heero returned Maxwell's scowl, unhappy the pilot had hesitated - he'd been planning on taking him down with a well-placed kick to the kneecaps.

"Well, just so happens I have an old smoke grenade that'll do the trick from a distance. Lucky you."Turning away, Duo stepped over to his own pack and crouched to unzip it.

Heero was still trying to make sense of what was happening. Was knocking him out really all that Maxwell intended to do?

"Why are you doing this?" Heero asked, needing an explanation.

"What part?" Duo snapped, distracted. He'd apparently stored the device underneath dozens of others, making a cacophony of scraping metal and plastic as he shoved items around. 

"Like you said, I've been stalking you. I'm a threat. You're not eliminating me."

Duo looked up from the bag, aghast. "Because you're 15 years old, Heero! I'm not killing a fucking 15 year old!"

"You're 15," Heero retorted, beyond insulted. "You have no problem getting yourself killed, apparently."

"I- " Duo looked completely thrown off. "That's not the same-"

"How not?"

"Just... drop it, alright, what the fuck do you even care?"

"It's hypocrisy."

"Look," Duo said angrily, shoving the bag aside and getting to his feet, "you know, where I come from, being cannon fodder for a mad scientist is a pretty sweet gig, actually. But you? You're just a normal kid, or you would be if J wasn't fucking with your head all the time!"

Heero scoffed at him. "I'm not some victim. I wouldn't recommend you underestimate me."

"Jesus Christ, is there any part of you not stuck in permanent mission mode? Just go home, Heero! Is that so fucking difficult? Go home, plan your fucking ops, and stay the fuck away from me!"

"Or you'll what?" Heero found himself asking, enraged at very concept of being lectured to by another teenager.

"Or what? I dunno, shit head, I'll probably end up dead, since at this rate you're gonna get me killed before OZ does! Fuck!" Duo kicked at the pile of objects, bullets scattering. "And then what! What'll I have fucking achieved, huh? I've fucking done _nothing_ , because I haven't had the fucking time!"

Flummoxed by Maxwell's words and raw distress, Heero found himself speechless. He blinked at Maxwell as the boy panted, obviously working to calm himself down. Having pulled his hat off, Duo rubbed both palms on his forehead, mumbling something under his breath. The broken rib was obviously getting to him, for the first time that Heero could see since that afternoon. Anger subsiding, Heero started to feel some guilt for riling him up.

Lowering his hands, Duo looked over at Heero with a defensive glare. Heero didn't bother glaring back, and Duo, after frowning at him, let his own expression fall. The shadows made it hard for Heero to see Duo's face, but the dejection in his slumped shoulders was obvious enough.

"Look, man, I like you," Duo said matter-of-factly, his voice more full of regret more than reproach. "You just make things more dangerous for me, okay. And I don't mean to be dark, but I don't have long as is, pal. Neither of us do. And us, focusing our energy on each other like this, instead of OZ, or people like OZ...it's a waste. So, I'm asking-" 

There was a clang in the distance and Duo instantly crouched, dragging his backpack further into the alcove.

"Shit." Duo pulled a handgun from the back of his jeans, giving Heero a glare. "Just... stay quiet." 

Stepping around the gravel and scattered bullets, Duo peered around the right corner, slipping out moments later. Beyond an initial scrape of his combat boots against concrete, the exit was silent.

Heero immediately looked to where his knife was still gleaming in the watery light, offering a path to freedom, among other items in the pile.But he hesitated, brow furrowing before he started to move. If he did get free, then what?

Duo still seemed hellbent on leaving campus, which meant Heero would be stuck restraining him again if he wanted to fix things. And doing that, of course, would not only break Heero's promise from that morning, but likely just piss the pilot off with no upshot whatsoever. Well... except potentially save him from dying, or being kidnapped, Heero reminded himself.He frowned, working to puzzle out the ethics of the matter.

He knew Maxwell had accepted the intrinsic danger of warfare and piloting a Gundam, just like Heero and the others, and Heero _had_ made the effort of forewarning him about J. And beyond that, did Heero realistically have the time or the power to run around protecting the other four pilots from field threats? The answer was an obvious no.

And moral arguments aside, there was also the issue of Duo's recent trauma with restraints. 

Heero sighed and let his head thump back against the concrete, not bothering to move towards the weapon. Ultimately, it seemed that unless _h_ e was willing to indefinitely chain the teenager in a basement and risk breaking him, talking him down was the only option. Talking, unfortunately, wasn't something Heero considered his strong point.


	6. Chapter 6

Duo reappeared as silently as he'd vanished.

"Sorry to cut this short, but I need to be on my way," Duo said tersely as he stepped under the low ceiling, returning his handgun to his belt. Immediately taking a knee by his backpack to continue rifling through, his newfound urgency made it clear that Heero didn't have much time. So what angle to take? Heero doubted bringing up Duo's safety would do much, so a tactical argument? 

Time was up too fast as Duo pulled out the grenade and tossed it in Heero's direction, the device bouncing through the slime a few feet away. Heero recognized it from the old guerrilla warfare days on the colonies; primitive, but perfectly effective. 

"Wait," Heero blurted as Duo got to his feet, desperate to keep him from pressing the remote pinched in his fingers. "If you're not going to see sense and stay here, at least let me help with the hit."

"Wh..." Wild guess or not, it seemed Heero had struck a nerve, Duo eyeing him in rattled surprise. "What the fuck do you know about that?"

"I know you're going in with no backup. Again." 

"Yeah, well, thanks, but not interested in a team effort right now." Duo lifted the remote to study the buttons.

"You know, when you claimed you weren't selfish or immature, I actually believed you," Heero said, letting condemnation drip from his voice. "But this? Risking yourself for a single hit, leaving Deathscythe without a pilot? It's irresponsible. Disgustingly so."

Duo looked like he'd been slapped, gawking at him.

After a moment of speechlessness he glowered in anger. "Nice try, Yuy, I know you don't care if Deathscythe goes down. Wing Zero's all the movement needs, right?"

"Deathscythe is the only Gundam with high-level stealth capabilities," Heero snapped back. "With him gone, we lose our ability to take out an entire category of targets. Listen to me, you _c_ an _not_ risk the suit like this. Not for one mission."Under his outrage, Duo was also clearly analyzing the argument in depth. "You know I'm right."

Duo's respondent silence led Heero to assume that his line of reasoning was working, so he kept quiet, giving the argument more time to filter through Maxwell's head. Scowling as he thought it out, the boy again pressed his palms to his temple, Heero able to discern him muttering under his breath. 

But when Duo lowered his hands and looked over again, Heero's breath caught in his throat - the hatred directed his way was so absolute, Heero knew instantly that something wasn't right.Duo looked aggrieved, even physically pained as he pocketed the remote, then pulled a notepad and pen from his jacket, starting to jot something down.

Heero, confused, narrowed his eyes. "What are you doing?" he demanded, figuring he'd cut to the chase.

But it seemed Duo was back to ignoring him.

Half a minute later, Duo pocketed the pen and ran his eyes over what he'd written, clearly double-checking it. Thunderously foul, he took several steps closer to Heero.

"Alright, so, if you don't hear from me, just..." Duo trailed off. 

Duo became even more inexplicably miserable as he stared at the numbers, Heero able to see a battle of wills playing out on his face. Whatever he was fighting over, it seemed he was losing. Snarling, Duo suddenly pulled out his pen again and started to scribble out the text, before ripping the sheet out and shoving it in his pocket. "Forget it. This is fucking stupid."

Heero felt truly shocked as he put it together, blinking as Duo started to write on a new page.

"Were you about to give me Deathscythe?"

Duo paused his writing to glare, eyes wild with frustration.

"Were you?"

"Changed my mind."

"Why?"

"Because it's my fucking suit, Yuy, that's why," Duo snapped, Heero finding the answer unhelpful.

Duo was clearly thinking in overdrive as he finished writing.

"Alright, listen up," Duo eventually said, putting the pen away before taking a knee in the slime nearby. "This is a low-frequency channel I use with Deathscythe," he said, flashing a long list of characters. "You call this, no matter what, if I can I'll bounce a call back. But here's the thing, if you ever, _ever_ get in a fight with Deathscythe around and it's not me? Man you get the fuck away. Immediately."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying if G sabotaged the self-destruct system and switches me out, you need to watch your _ass_. Look, I scoped out G's backup pilots last week, and they're psychos, man - not psychos like us, like actual fucking psychos. If either of them get in a Gundam, I don't know how predictable they'll be."

Heero found the thought of Deathscythe posing a personal threat to be ridiculous. "I think I'll be fine."

"Jesus, will you stop? I'm trying to help you, and you wanna compare dick size! I know you think Wing Zero's invincible, but he's _not_. Professor G's not like J, okay there are specs in Deathscythe he'd _never_ tell the others about, shit I'm scared to touch. But these backup pilots?"

Heero, for the first time, saw rank fear in Duo's eyes. 

"If they're crazy enough to max out the buster shield, or the beam scythe, sure it might turn 'em to goo, but if not then they could do _anything_. Cut through energy shields and Gundanium like paper - I've seen the simulations, Heero."

Heero frowned, analyzing Duo's claims. He only knew Deathscythe's specs so well, but G making secret and unethical modifications certainly wouldn't be out of character. He couldn't help wondering if there were hidden settings on Wing Zero.

"You believe me, right?" The notepad landed next to him, and Duo started to get to his feet, wincing. "Just take it. Please. Be great if you could give it to Quatre too, if you see him before I do."

Heero scowled in fresh frustration as Duo started to step away, reaching in his pocket again to pull out the remote. It seemed all of Heero's pacification attempts were being directed in unhelpful directions. 

"You're not making any sense," Heero tried, needing a new tact.

"Excuse me?"

"You're still talking like you expect to die, and I know it's not from mercenary hit squad. What the hell are you planning?"

"It's just a hit, I'll be fine."

"I thought you didn't lie," Heero said, Duo turning to glare at the accusation. "Look, if someone offers you help, you should take it."

"No, just drop it," Duo ordered in exasperation. "This is my op, I'm not risking someone else on this. Besides, I can pull this off, someone else can't."

"You're wrong."

"Oh really? You think I'm gonna send _you,_ apparent super savior of the fucking universe to get killed taking out some minor officer? I'm not dying with that on my conscience, pal!"

"No, I mean we can do it remotely. You don't have to be put at risk at all for this. Neither of us do."

"I'm not changing my mind."

"This recklessness, what is this?" Heero demanded. "Is this to me spite for the interrogating you? I apologized for that."

"This has nothing to do with that-"

"Look, I'll say it again. I'm sorry. Now please just calm down and think about this."

"Heero, you seriously expect me to believe that's what your goal is? Helping me? The same fucking day you admit you have a mission to keep me on campus?"

"Yes! I've broken mission parameters for you twice this week. J could take Wing Zero for that; how is that not proof I want to help?"

"Heero, stop!" Duo pleaded, "you aren't getting it! You think I don't want your help? You think I don't get tired of handling all this shit by myself? After what you did this week, I couldn't trust you now even if I wanted to, alright? What happens if I let you out, and you freak out again and stop me from pulling this off. People die, alright, innocent people, you know, old people, and kids?"

Breathing heavily, Duo leaned his hand against the concrete wall to steady himself, clearly struggling to keep himself together.

"I don't have a choice in this, okay - didn't the minute I found that fucker's face in the server last week. So if you actually want to help me, even a little bit, please Heero - you'll leave me alone and let me do my goddamn job."

Thinking it over, Heero found himself completely unable to come up with a counterargument. Duo was right, about all of it.For Duo to actually trust Heero after his recent parade of missteps would have been idiocy, irregardless of Heero's real intent. He watched as Duo looked back down to the remote in his fingers, the boy's hands clearly vibrating with emotion.

So that was that. Another failure. Closing his eyes, Heero let his head hit the concrete wall again, preparing to black out.

The next time he heard about Duo Maxwell it would probably be in a headline, maybe a footnote in one of J's terse phone calls. And instead of being able to blame that death on OZ, or G's half-baked mission plans, it would be entirely Heero's fault. The most talented and capable of the Gundam pilots, out of commission solely because Heero couldn't keep his own childish paranoias in check.

Heero couldn't help observing he was still conscious.

Heero opened his eyes to find Maxwell had moved, crouching on his haunches in the far corner by the walkway, hand buried in his bangs and hiding his expression. The teenager's torn demeanor made it clear he was having an existential crisis of some sort, and not one he looked like he was winning. Heero grimaced - the teenager looked like a kicked dog like that, hunched against the wall in abject misery.

Even if Heero's heavy-handed arguments were bearing some fruit, if this was Maxwell's resultant state of mind, he was wondering if it was even worth it.

Manipulation, smashing down the boy's opinion of himself to bring him in line... in hindsight, that was G's approach. J's approach too, when he looked at it in the right light.

"My parents were assassins," Heero said on some strange instinct, barely recognizing the words as they left his mouth.

Duo didn't move, but Heero saw his eyes slide Heero's direction.

"They died a long time ago," Heero continued, still in shock at his own disclosure, "but I remembered some of their contacts, who they interacted with. A few years ago I started looking those contacts up, using my last name to get in certain doors. J doesn't know about it. If you give me access to a laptop, depending on who the target is, I can use those connections to commission a hit. Remotely."

Duo was staring strangely, leaving Heero hard pressed to tell what he was thinking. Heero felt exposed after the admission about his family; it was a state of mind he found both odd and extremely unpleasant.

"How'm I supposed to know you're not fucking with me?" Duo asked, not looking up from his knees. The bravado was gone - just the tormented plea of a young person with no options.

"I..." Heero blinked as he tried to think of an answer. "I guess you can't. Look, this week...I was...awful to you. I know you've only been trying to help me - I'm sorry. I really am. I'm trying to make up for it."

Duo's wide eyes, the only part of his hunched silhouette to shine with any light, had an almost pathetic touch of hope. Heero also knew he really didn't deserve Duo's forgiveness _or_ trust at this point, which made convincing him of it almost predatory. But what other choice was there at this point?

"Look," Heero said, thinking of how to meet Duo halfway. "I understand you can't take a risk on this. I can still do this in restraints."

It was, at last, apparently the right thing to say.

Heero watched with bated breathe as Duo seemed to think it out, staring at him inscrutably, before reaching for his bag and pulling out his laptop. Sitting cross-legged and leaning back against the wall, he put the computer on his lap and opened it, the screen casting a blue glow on his face and the concrete behind him.

"You can pull up my deepnet communications account," Heero explained. "Username blackalpha, one word no caps lock, password 18999."

Duo typed in the computer, face lit by the changing glow of opening browsers. Hacker or not, it wasn't hard to tell by Maxwell's expression that pulling up Heero's private account information wasn't to his liking.

"Contact will be third from bottom. Look, if you want, I can type out the message. You can keep your gun trained on me while I do, I can just cuff myself when I'm done."

Duo stared at him, blinking. Then, looking resigned, Duo pulled out his utility knife and twisted it so a wirecutter popped out of the hilt. Maxwell gave him a wary and vaguely sickly look, looking for all the world like a man being sent to the front line with a slim chance of survival. He tossed it Heero's way, it bouncing near his hip.

Twisting to grab and tool, Heero popped the zip-ties on his wrist, relishing the full flow of blood in his extremities. Making a point of moving slowly, casually, Heero stretched, popping his joints, before leaning forward to pop the ankles. Then sitting cross-legged, he motioned for Duo to hand over the laptop.

Maxwell, wincing as he hoisted its weight, pushed it across the concrete in his direction, just close enough to Heero to reach.

He very carefully avoided any sudden movements, Heero snagged the corner of the laptop and pulled it slowly over the concrete to his knees, crossing them and leaning forward to type.

"So. Target?" Heero asked, looking up from the com window. To Heero's eyes, Duo was still sitting there looking abjectly terrified - not of being hurt, but of the repercussions of making the wrong decision. Or maybe both.

"It's Raymond Cornell, right now. Heads that blacksite in Singapore."

"Ah. Is there a need to interrogate?"

"Nope." Duo seemed confident of that.

Duo pulled his knees up and wrapped his forearms around them, Heero not missing the fact that he hadn't taken him up on his offer to pull out his gun. Duo's face was shadowed by the bangs and brim of us his hat. He was quiet, which was better than on the brink of freaking out or leaving, at least.

Heero pulled up a secure browser, using his ghost server to check in with the Hilshire data, checking the name in the server datadump. "Not much here." Heero scanned former positions, finding the man's resume relatively lackluster. "He's moving up quickly, though. At this rate he could make major general soon."

"Yeah, only the last two positions are real. One of his names used to be Marco Moretti. Fucker has surgery every decade, apparently."

Heero pulled up a secure browser to the search for the Moretti alias, quickly pulling up a news report from around 8 years prior. "Head of colonial security, L2?"

"That's him."

Heero frowned, recollecting the news reports from that time well enough. "So he would have been there during the L2 riots."

Duo looked surprised, leaning further forward, his face better illuminated by the computer's glow. "You know about those?"

"Everyone knows about those."

"Oh. Yeah, he was there. Organized the crackdown."

"Jesus."

"Yeah. And that's just some of the shit he's been up to."

Heero wanted to ask more questions, maybe discern why Maxwell cared about this war criminal in particular, but decided against it. Instead he began checking for Cornell's location using the Hilshire data.

"Y'know, a lot of those assassin groups are pretty dark," Duo said, sounding dubious. "These guys aren't going to shoot random people, or, y'know, secretaries or anything, right?"

"No. They're unethical, but extremely professional. If I set terms, they won't break them."

Duo nodded, moderately appeased. 

Message finally composed and sent, Heero tapped his finger on the computer while he waited for a response, knowing it would be practically instant. He wasn't disappointed, his inbox quickly showing a confirmation from a party eager to take the offer. The bidding price was reasonable enough, and Heero pulled up a second browser to handle the down deposit, the transfer taking seconds.

"It can be done by morning." Heero turned the screen for Duo to see the response. "And if this attempt fails I have other connections as well."

Leaning forward to scan the text, Duo looked intrigued.

So maybe now was the time to try again.

"We should head back," Heero said, Duo blinking at him, unconvinced. "Follow up from there."

"Just send me a message about it." 

Heero pushed away a touch of panic, knowing he had to cinch the deal now.

"I might have questions, if we need a followup team. I'm also assuming you have others. Might as well get as many of the pricks as we can."

Heero, deciding to take Duo's silence as step in the right direction, slowly closed the laptop, the culvert becoming dim again. He extended the laptop to Duo, relieved when Duo accepted it.

Duo didn't talk as Heero drove back towards campus, the silence thick between them. 

Entering the school through the least frequented student entrance, they still had to filter through students too hyped to sleep or study. Heero kept his eyes ahead as he made for the dormitories. In a reversal of the norm, Heero found Duo trailing at his shoulder, head bowed to make it hard for passerby, or Heero for that matter, to see his face under the brim of his hat. Heero had to make an effort to walk slower than normal, compensating for Duo's steady pace.

They passed Billy in the stairwell, the boy trailing behind a group of giggling students in various states of sleep attire, hand on the wood bannister above them.

"Hi Duo, hi Heero!" the boy said, face flushed with alcohol. "Oh, Duo, I finished that project yesterday. Really was kind of fun when you got past your teacher's crappy output criteria...."

Seeming to register Duo's expression, Billy's brow furrowed, his face starting to fall. Glancing back, Heero cursed inwardly when he glimpsed Duo's bone-weary expression, the harried anxiety. Maxwell had let his guard down, and Billy had seen through the mask.

Shit.

Looking back to Billy, Heero was surprised to find the teenager had affixed him with a glare of pure loathing. Not about to be outdone, Heero glared right back, finding the pajamaed youth hysterically unimposing.

"Woah, chill, Billy," Duo said, his normal tone forcing itself into the staring contest. "Dude my great grandmother died, remember?"

"I... oh yeah." Billy blinked at the reference to Duo's recent absence, the standoff broken as he reflexively reverted to confused sympathy. "I guess she was like, really important to you?" 

"Uh, yeah..." Duo jabbed Heero on the small of his back, hard, prompting him to keep moving. "Look, I'll pick up the file on Friday, if that works."

"Um, ok, sure." 

"Cool. Have a nice night."

Billy stared back at them as they climbed past.

Reaching the next landing, Heero glimpsed the boy standing stock still where they'd left him, confused but still staring at Heero with the same suspicious hatred as before. Heero couldn't deny that the look stung.

Planning the other hits took some time, with Heero pulling the armchair to his left so Duo could see his computer screen more easily. Still in his jacket, the other pilot had curled in the seat with his legs pulled up and arms crossed, his own battered laptop sitting on the desk corner nearby. After giving Heero the basic details of each target he'd kept largely quiet, only speaking when Heero asked a direct question.

Heero gave him his space as he did his research, resisting the urge to ask whether Duo had been personally impacted by any of the targets. They seemed unrelated except for having been complicit or directly responsible, at some point, for crimes against humanity in the colonies.

They were also all currently well-placed in the OZ command structure as officers and regional officials, with prospects of climbing higher. Even though Doctor J would have undoubtably deemed each of them beneath note, Heero still found putting targets on their backs to be immensely satisfying. 

Eventually he noticed that Duo didn't seem to be registering the screen anymore, his eyes half-closed and unfocused under the brim of his hat.

"When's the last time you slept?" Heero asked, keeping his voice bland.

"I'm fine," Duo said automatically, straightening in the chair as he blinked away the blurriness.

Heero dropped the issue for the time being, looking over again maybe half an hour later. He found Duo slumped in the chair looking about ready to nod off, his hat and bangs largely obscuring his face. He was just being stubborn, Heero realized - there was absolutely no way that was a comfortable position with a cracked rib.

Frowning, he stopped typing and pushed back his chair, getting to his feet.Duo started at the movement, watching groggily as Heero walked to the bed, grabbing the blankets in the far corner and yanking them back. He motioned at the sheets as he stepped back to his chair, knowing his intent was obvious.

Duo looked perplexed as Heero sat down and started typing again.

"I can hit my own room," Duo said after a moment, hesitant. "Be back in a few hours."

"It's easier if you stay." Heero kept his voice as casual as possible, trying to cinch the deal. "That way I can wake you if I have any questions." Remembering the last time Duo had slept over, Heero paused, glancing at Duo with a slight wince. "Promise I won't pull a gun this time, if that's what you're worried about."

"Huh." At that Duo looked a little amused, rubbing the palm of his hand on his eyes.

Heero had to hide his surprise when Duo actually started to get to his feet, looking stiff as he walked behind Heero and headed for the mattress.

Reflections in the dark window made it easy to watch as Duo sat at the foot of the bed, his back turned as he took off his hat and bent for his backpack.

He was starting to take his jacket off when he hesitated. Glimpsing his uncomfortable glance back, Heero made a point of staring at his computer screen, pretending to pay him no mind. He didn't look away from the window completely, however. He'd been around Duo enough to know that he usually slept in a tanktop, meaning he might finally get a chance to see what had been done to him, at least in part.

Carefully pulling the jacket off, Duo still had the black T-shirt underneath, Heero able to glimpse scrapes on his left elbow and the bandage still on his right. That was all he managed to see, however, before Duo was pulling his braid around his neck and over his shoulder, bending for his shoes. Duo pulled on a hoodie a moment later, ending any remaining opportunity for inspection.

When Duo actually settled into his bed, wrapping the blanket around him this time, Heero wasn't expecting the intense wave of relief he felt. He'd managed it. Door locked safely behind them and all immediate threats eliminated, Heero gave a small smile of satisfaction before returning to his work.


	7. Chapter 7

Focused on stirring fresh ramen, Heero jumped when he turned to find Duo leaning in the kitchen entrance, rubbing at his eyes.

"Thought you were gonna wake me," Duo groused, checking his watch.

"Didn't need to," Heero explained, setting the noodles on the counter. "And the dead aren't in a hurry. Here."

He motioned for Duo to follow him to the computer, opening several tabs before turning the screen for Duo to get a good look. Duo leaned forward, squinting to read the gory incident reports.

"Ho-lee shit."Turning the screen further to get a better view, Duo's eyes widened."That's from this morning. You got the fucker."

"Three dead so far, OZ just hasn't found all the bodies," Heero said, crossing his arms while Duo scrolled through the photos, jaw hanging open. "The woman is still pending, supposed to happen tonight."

"How'd you get these reports?"

"Hilshire server, actually. OZ had an extra encryption methodology we didn't know about. There's a summary in the analysis I gave you."

Straightening, Duo looked both impressed and shocked. Then he laughed, looking somewhat boggled as he ran fingers over his hair. "Well, shit." Duo looked at him directly, Heero a bit unnerved to see what looked like sincere gratefulness. "Thank you."

Heero grunted, not sure what else to say. He tilted the screen back his way, wanting to check his communications browser for updates. "There's instant coffee," he offered, nodding at the kitchen. "Second drawer on the left."

"Uh, yeah. Great." Duo sounded more than a little dazed as he turned to shuffle back to the kitchen, barefoot under crumpled jeans and sweatshirt askew on his shoulders. Pleased demeanor aside, all the energy he'd sported the night before was gone, Heero observed.

The other pilot out of view, Heero's mind went to another issue, one he'd been strategizing about all morning. Growing progressively angrier that the doctors hadn't demanded it themselves, on his own end he felt like a degenerate for not broaching it a week ago.

The topic was delicate, so he again ran over his wording and approach before following to the kitchen.

He found Duo leaning against the counter, the microwave humming behind him. Greeting him with a small smile, Duo moved aside so Heero could get to his food.

"So I have to ask, all those contacts of yours," Duo asked casually, "they just hop on the bandwagon because of your impressive family name?"

"Not exactly. Let's just say that $27 million in the Caymans is now $8 million," Heero said, draining extra fluid from the ramen into the sink.

Duo blanched, to his surprise. Heero would've thought that would be chump change for an elite hacker, but apparently not.

"It was earmarked for military purposes anyways," Heero explained, "I'd say this definitely counts." Duo still looked skeptical. "Relax - I'm replacing it this evening." Heero couldn't resist a smirk. "Turns out St. Gabriel's chairman has a slush fund in Luxembourg he uses for gambling and cocaine. He can suffer the loss."

Duo snorted, Heero's words earning him a faint smile. "Oh." The microwave beeped and Duo retrieved a mug of hot water, Heero absently stirring his noodles. 

Now was the time to bring it up, clearly. 

But Duo looked so viciously pleased as he made his crappy instant coffee, Heero found himself hesitating. The pilot hadn't looked that authentically content about anything in, well, weeks, he realized, at least not since they'd destroyed the carrier. And now Heero ran a distinct chance of ruining that mood entirely. 

Duo was about to walk past with coffee in hand, but Heero's expression seemed to catch his eye.

"Something wrong?" Duo asked, giving him a scrutinizing look.

So much for waiting.

"So there's a clinic on Third Avenue," Heero said, keeping his voice casual and attending to his noodles.

"Huh?" Duo looked perplexed as he processed what Heero was saying.

"I can take you, if you want."

Stare becoming tinged with suspicion, Duo was clearly starting to doubt his intent. "This something I have a choice in?" he asked, his voice carefully vapid. 

"Yes. Of course," Heero said, putting his food down to give Duo his full attention.

"Look, well...thanks for the offer, but it's just a cracked rib, man."

Heero paused before responding with a quip, working to check his words. "You can't be sure without scans." He braced himself. "You could also be sick."

"Sick?" Duo huffed in amusement instead of looking embarrassed, oddly enough. "Uh, on the list of things I need to worry about this year, pretty sure STDs are rock bottom."

Heero blinked, not sure if Duo was making a joke about mortality or being abstinent.

"You know it's a good idea," he tried again.

"No, it's a shitty idea."

"G should have already insisted." Duo looked taken aback at that, a grimace shadowing his features. "And also, you're saying if our situations were reversed, you wouldn't be pushing for this?"

It was an argument with no counter-argument, he knew, and sure enough Duo frowned deeply, thinking it over.

Knowing he'd won, Heero reached in his back pocket and pulled out a Japanese ID card, his own picture staring coldly from the corner.

"Here." He handed it over. "Sergei Ivanov, 18, vacationing from Moscow. We're already the same height, so just need to switch out the photograph."

Duo stared at the ID in dubious surprise.

"How's your Russian accent?"

"Fine." Duo was starting to look resigned, unhappily so. When he looked at Heero from under his bangs, his cobalt eyes shone in frustration. "So how exactly many rationales did you prep to talk me into this?"

"...a few."

Duo sighed, clearly giving in entirely. "Yeah, alright. It's a good idea." His expression belied his words.

Heero nodded, relieved the conversation was going in the right direction. He checked his watch. "Head out at ten, then?"

Duo winced. "Uh, thanks, but don't worry about that part. You said Third Ave? That's close, I can drive myself."

"You'll just exacerbate the fracture."

"Maybe, just..." Duo's shoulders fell as he looked at his coffee, Heero less than pleased to see the exhaustion returning. "Look, sounds like G might still have some goon squad out there. Last thing I want is you getting pulled into more of his stupid bullshit-"

"Damn, forgot about that," Heero interrupted, shocked at his oversight. "Wait a moment." Duo blinked, cupping his coffee with the ID pinched between his knuckles as he watched Heero walk to his desk.

J always responded to pings within minutes, and now proved no different.

"Heero!" J grinned at him, face smeared with oil of some sort. "Getting impatient? I told you we're working on new targets, lad, any day now-"

"I've set myself a new mission."

"I...what?" J sputtered, clearly caught by surprise. His metal arm clacked automatically. "You're not following Maxwell?"

"Maxwell's not a threat. We're planning a new operation together. So whatever you had planned for him, I need you to pull it."

J stared, truly shocked. He adjusted the optics of his goggles - something Heero knew he only did when discomfited. "I...y...yes. Of course, Heero. And, about Maxwell, we weren't planning anything too harsh, just a pickup until he cooled down. He would've been fine, you know."

"It doesn't matter what it was. Just end it."

"Yes. Of course." J grasped for his composure. "You boys keep us updated? I hate to be left out of the loop, Heero."

"We'll be in touch as needed."Heero, for once, ended the call first.

Slumped against the door of the pickup, Duo stared at the modified ID as they drove further off campus, memorizing the dates and details, Heero assumed. He hadn't bothered changing from his clothes the day before, the jacket back on despite the nice weather.

"J has no idea that identity exists, if you're worried about privacy," Heero mentioned, breaking the silence. "Speaking of..." Memory triggered, Heero reached behind his seat to fish in his backpack. Duo raised an eyebrow as Heero pulled out a stack of bills, dropping it on Duo's lap."Two grand in there for expenses, already scrubbed," Heero explained. "The serials match a Russian bank."

Duo picked up the stack, staring at it in bemusement. Heero didn't expect an argument, knowing cash over cards was standard operating procedure, but Duo still looked awkward as he put the cash in his pocket. 

"Hey, I really am sorry for all the hassle," Duo mumbled, giving Heero a sidelong glance.

Almost responding with a habitual 'it's fine,' Heero realized that would likely fail to set Duo at ease.

"It's...nice to get off campus," he said instead, huffing in irritation. "J had me pull an op for JAP Base last week. Since then it's just been homework."

"JAP point? Damn."

"It's good I waited," Heero said, belatedly remembering G raging at Duo for holding up operations. "The Hilshire server had schematics J didn't. Turns out OZ has a design lab under the generator building."

"Yeah, I saw that. Not well protected, either."

Heero smiled. "Nope."

He turned onto a two-lane road that led to the parking lot behind the clinic, slowing at an intersection to let a family cross the street. He'd been taking backroads to avoid traffic cameras, a luxury made possible by the fact that neither he or Duo were bleeding out or near-death.Parking in the back of the lot, Heero turned the truck off and reached for his backpack.

"Uh thanks, man, I can take a taxi back," Duo said, opening his door and letting in a blast of warm air. "See you in bio?"

"I'd rather wait," Heero said, zipping his backpack and pulling it over his shoulder. Duo paused, clearly feeling bad about the issue. "Lets me watch the lobby if J gets nosy," Heero explained. "That alright?"

Wrinkling his nose, Duo looked away as he gave a small nod, getting out of the truck. Heero locked up after him, slamming his door and coming around to find Duo waiting on the hot asphalt, clearly trying to put his best face forward. At this point that apparently equaled nauseated unease.

Hands in his pockets, Duo only made it several paces before he slowed to a stop, looking up at the gleaming medical building with extreme aversion. Heero stopped and waited, wincing as he took in Duo's expression of raw vulnerability. He still wasn't used to seeing him like that, hunched in a jacket on a hot day. 

"We don't have to go," Heero said, reluctant to cede the victory but hating Duo's obvious discomfort. It made him feel like a sadist.

"Nah, it's..." Duo stared at his feet, rubbing at his nose before taking a deep breath.

"I wouldn't go on my own either," Heero admitted, wanting him to actually relax. "I'd need someone to convince me."

Duo grimaced again, seeming to acknowledge Heero's point.Heero waited patiently until Duo finally straightened, gave him a weak smile that didn't reach his eyes, and began walking fixedly towards the building. Heero followed him inside.


	8. Chapter 8

Heero settled on a bench near the glass entrance to wait, pretending to read a newspaper while he scanned the people entering and exiting. He found it unlikely that J or G would try anything after their last call, so the surveillance was more out of habit than actual worry. 

None of the visitors looked remotely suspicious, as expected. He did tense when police wandered in with a cuffed prisoner, only to return to his paper when they showed him no interest.

At the end of the second hour Heero was starting to worry about the other pilot's state of mind, wondering if he should have pushed to join Duo for the exams. Duo hadn't asked, but what if he'd just been too proud or embarrassed, and would have appreciated the support? Heero tried to brush the thought aside.

Duo could undoubtably handle the visit fine, or at least competently fake being fine with it. And even if the pilot _was_ close to bugging out, the people here were trained for this, he told himself. If anything they were probably being absurdly gentle, especially if Duo had kept with the shy demeanor and soft Muscovite accent he'd used to melt the receptionist.

Three hours in, Heero found himself convinced he'd grossly underestimated the severity of Duo's injuries. Was the time for extra scans? Surgery, even? Heero felt a surge of self-hatred at that, still confounded he'd been callous enough to not push for a doctor the minute Duo had knocked on his door. Medical issues could have easily been compounding since then, minor problems made serious through neglect.

Heero glanced at the reception desk, wondering if they'd think to give him a heads up if Duo went under the knife. He fought the urge to get up and ask for an update - it had only been a few hours, after all. The doctors were probably just being thorough.

Heero, lost in his thoughts, blinked when he noticed a three-year-old, clad in a kimono with fingers mashed in his mouth, standing nearby and staring at him with aggressive curiosity. 

Amused at the scrutiny, Heero narrowed his eyes and glared back.

To his alarm the toddler shrieked loudly, then began to squeal in laughter before stomping back towards his mother. Stifling a smirk, Heero buried his nose in the newspaper and tried to act like nothing had happened. Over the hum of conversation he could hear the distracted parent trying, and failing, to shush the giggling.

Heero had almost talked himself into asking for an update when Duo finally emerged around 3 o'clock, his dark form blending innocuously with the other occupants of the lobby. Relieved, Heero discarded the newspaper and got to his feet, shouldering his backpack before walking to meet him half-way.

From a distance Duo looked the same as when he'd checked in, hands in his jacket while he scanned the people passing by. He didn't look dazed or medicated, Heero ascertained, so likely nothing as serious as surgery, which gave him some immediate relief.

He'd already decided not to pry, but as they met up near the entrance, Heero apparently failed to keep his thoughts off his face yet again. Duo gave him a bland smile of reassurance. "Hey. Went alright."

"Good."

"Sorry about the wait," Duo said as they both stepped through the automatic doors into the afternoon heat.

"It's fine," Heero said, scanning the parking lot for suspicious figures. "I'm now a bona fide expert on the Yokohama stock exchange."

Duo looked unsure if Heero was joking.

Retracing their way through the largely unoccupied parking lot, they'd made it a fair distance when Duo stopped, Heero turning to find him standing over a trash can and examining his left hand. Frowning, Heero stepped closer to find Duo dismantling a hand brace, a splint holding his ring finger in place.

"Don't you need that?"

"Nah," Duo said dismissively. "Just put it on to make the nurse happy. Not a finger we need for piloting, anyways."

Heero crossed his arms while he watched Duo rip at the tape and velcro. "You'd heal faster with it."

"Uh, says the man who fixed his own broken femur with a wrench."

"That leg still hurts," Heero said, wondering if Duo was ever going to let that go. "It was arguably not my most...clearheaded decision."

"Oh. Shit." Duo gave him a sympathetic look. "Well, either way, pretty sure you don't want me walking around with this puppy, unless you wanna get grilled by admin for beating up other freshman." Duo snorted in dark amusement, ripping at the last strip of velcro before dropping the splint in the trash. "Though honestly, I might pay good money to watch that."

It seemed the chattiness was back, which Heero supposed was a good sign. Looking to his other wrist, Duo pulled a blade from his sleeve and sliced through a plastic hospital bracelet, letting it fall in the trash as well.

"Any security issues?" Heero asked as they resumed walking, Duo fiddling with his sleeve as he re-homed the knife.

"I don't think so. They tried talking me into going to the cops, but didn't push very hard."

"Hm. You have a second appointment?"

"No, can call in for results later. Or just hack the system - need to delete the records anyways."

As the truck came into view, Heero knew immediately that leaving it in the sun had been a mistake. After unlocking the car, he left the door open for a moment before getting inside, trying to let the air disperse. Braving the sweltering heat, he reached across the seats to pop the passenger side lock.

Promptly opening the door, Duo wrinkled his nose at the heat, or possibly the smell, before climbing gingerly inside. "Christ, it's hot as hell," he grumbled, reaching for the AC after Heero turned the engine on. "I thought this place was supposed to be all snow and pine trees."

"You are wearing a jacket."

"Pft. Leave home without at least eight knives? Can't do that in a baseball shirt, man." The AC finally starting to blast cooler air, Duo sagged back in his seat in relief, wiping wet hair from his forehead as Heero reversed into the parking lot. "Oh, yeah," Duo said, reaching in his pocket to extend the stacks of cash. "Didn't need much. Everything here is super cheap, apparently."

"I don't need it," Heero said, twisting to look over his shoulder. "Just keep it 'til you burn the identity."

Duo shrugged, putting the cash back in his pocket.

The truck had cooled off by the time Heero pulled onto the main road, Duo again leaning forward to adjust the AC. Heero, seeing the wince even before it fully formed, reached out and hit the off button before Duo had a chance.

"You should probably stop fidgeting," he explained when Duo raised an eyebrow at him, remembering just in time to sound less commandeering than usual. Despite looking momentarily keen to argue, bemusement seemed to take precedence, Duo giving Heero a strange look as he leaned back against the door.

To Heero, the silence as they drove through the suburbs felt comfortable this time, Duo watching the quaint houses and cell towers go by with what seemed like relaxation. Heero wasn't sure if that could be chalked to the appointment being over, or just going well.

"So you think they'll go through with the merger?" Duo asked at one point.

Heero was momentarily confused. "Hm?"

"The stock exchange."

"Oh." So it seemed Duo actually read those newspapers he always brought to the dining hall. "Probably not. The bid has those two poison pills."

"True, but the exchange is completely broke, and that's the only bid on the table right now."

"Still two weeks until the shareholders vote. Could be another offer."

"Maybe."

Heero turned onto the road that led towards the industrial district. They were nearing St. Gabriel's campus, the academy's palatial buildings in the far distance.

"You can ask me about it, if you want to," Duo said mildly.

About Hilshire?

Completely caught off guard, Heero looked over at Duo in surprise. Duo easily met his gaze, looking thoughtful. Heero blinked and turned back to the road, quiet while he considered the offer. He quickly decided it felt too intrusive, too personal.

"It's alright."

Duo looked surprised, like he'd expected a different answer. Still, he took the refusal graciously enough, giving Heero a warm smile. "Okay. You don't have to. But it wouldn't bother me, if you change your mind. Just ... for the record."

As Duo turned back to the window, Heero took a moment to collect his thoughts.As it was, he was already embarrassed by how frequently he'd wondered about the details, with Duo's admitted injuries only painting so much of a picture. Had the whole thing been quick, or had Duo been trapped in the barracks for hours? Had he been forced to actively participate?

Heero knew some of his curiosity stemmed from the fact that he was at high risk for something similar happening. J had never minced words about likely outcomes for young POWs, and his one piece of advice concerning assault - consider going along with it - hadn't exactly provided specifics.

Heero knew for a fact that he could handle a cattle rod or needles under his fingernails, but compliance? It remained an unknown for him, and while he figured he could probably handle a blowjob, even submit to penetration, he still knew that some part of himself, some inner pride, might lash out. It would be an understandable weakness, but still - it was a blind spot that could get him, maybe countless others, killed.

It occurred to him that he could at least ask Duo for advice. That wouldn't be particularly intrusive, if he phrased it right.

"I'm not sure I could do the same thing," he said finally, carefully.

Duo looked at him quizzically.

"Keep in deep cover like that, complete the mission successfully," he continued, feeling his face warm at the admission of weakness. Still, he'd come this far with it. "I guess I'm not sure...certain training wouldn't... kick in and interfere. And if lives were at stake, then..."

"Oh god." There was a weak quaver in Duo's voice, and Heero glanced over to check on him, worried he'd gone way too far.Eyes wide, Duo seemed to planning his words. "Okay, look, you want my opinion, you _shouldn't_ finish the mission in that case."

Surprised, Heero graced him with a frown.

"I'm serious, Heero," Duo said with stricken intensity. "Anything like that starts to happen, you get out, fast, best you can. Fuck whatever mission you have. It's not worth it."

"It's a temporary threat."

"It's still a threat. And you're a pilot anyways,it shouldn't be your job to run around risking your ass on the ground all the time. The way I see it, J's an idiot, prepping you for all those infiltration ops like he does."

"You do the same ops," Heero observed, not wanting to sound confrontational but trying to make sense of Duo's perspective, the pilot's words and actions so strikingly incongruous.

Duo had gone quiet. Realizing he'd probably _actually_ messed up this time and said absolutely the wrong thing, Heero stared at Duo from of the corner of his eye. He seemed deep in thought, back to gazing out the window with his arms crossed.

"You ever think... you know. About doing something different?" Duo asked, Heero relieved to hear he sounded contemplative.

"Like run a convenience store, or start a nonprofit?" Heero sniffed in distaste. "Nope."

Duo smiled wryly. "Should've seen that answer coming."

"You?"

"Pfft." Duo let his head thump against the glass as he watched the trees go by. "Man, I don't even know what I'm doing _now_."

For the life of him, Heero couldn't think of an appropriate response, the silence stretching. Fortunately, before he had to settle on some shill of a platitude, Duo resumed talking.

"Think I learned last night, it's just not in me to give up on Deathscythe," he mused."Guess I'll just stick with him, see how far we can get." Duo snorted, looking suddenly bitter. "Or at least until G changes his mind and tries to steal him back, fickle old shit. For now I've just been banking on that data keeping him satisfied. For a while at least."

Heero frowned at the new information, trying to make sense of it. Duo had tried to murder G, then _stolen_ Deathscythe? And G was still working with him? Just how valuable did they see him, then? And how did Duo not see that? He began deliberating on his response, letting the right words fall into place.

"I have a feeling if G didn't want you in Deathscythe, you wouldn't have made it out of the hanger," Heero said evenly. "And, about these ground missions. What you've done, with the locations of those OZ sites, it's more than enough. I think, it would make sense, after all that, if you focused on piloting now."

Duo was staring at him curiously, processing. After a moment he shrugged in some form of acquiescence, starting to pick at his sleeve. "And you? J asks you to do something crazy, you just gonna jump in headfirst?"

Heero had to think that over, unsure what the honest answer would be. "We'll see." Heero thought about the past week's pointless stalking and wasted time, operations misdirected by paranoia. "Still, the doctors definitely proved this week that not all missions are created equal."

The dormitory's hallways were busy by the time they made it back, Duo again looking somewhat harangued as they dodged groups of students chatting or rough-housing after class. They passed Duo's room first, Heero frowning when Duo stopped and fished out his room key. 

Duo somehow picked up on his spike of anxiety. Again. "Just need to chill for a bit," he explained with a smile. "Watch trash TV."

"Alright."

Duo started to unlock his door. "Oh and I'll give you a heads up if I leave campus, so you can go easy on that spy shit."

Duo had hit the nail on the head, and Heero felt himself relaxing immediately. "Copy that."

"Cool." Duo gave him another smile as he stepped into his room, flipping on the light.

Seeing his window of opportunity closing, Heero figured he'd cut to the chase, clearing his voice. "Duo."

"Yeah?"

"Anytime you need a place to crash, I don't mind," Heero said, consciously trying to not sound awkward. 

"Um." Duo looked blindsided anyways, leaning against his doorjamb. "Okay. Likewise. Mi casa es tu casa and all that."

"Duo!"

Duo peeked around Heero's shoulder, instantly exasperated. Heero looked back as well to see fencing boy sprawled on a bed across the hall, his door wide open.

"So how'd he make it up to you?" the Swede called over, jocular. "Flowers, or chocolate? Ooh, _both_?"

"Go fuck yourself, Meekus."

"Oh my god, you'll never get in the priesthood talking so nasty all the time!" Duo rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "And when are you coming back for basketball? We always lose when you're not there, you know!"

Shaking his head, Duo gave Heero with a long-suffering look. "Just so you know, if I do stay over again, everyone's gonna think we're a number."

Heero sniffed. "I don't care." He glanced back to where Meekus was now absorbed in a video game. "They are literally children."

Duo snorted, bringing his hand to his mouth.

"Hey, what he's saying about me?" Meekus demanded. "Duo!"

Duo broke into full laughter, clapping Heero on the shoulder before stepping into his room and softly shutting the door. Unable to hide a smile himself, Heero hefted his backpack and started for his own room. Seeing Heero unaccompanied, Meekus blanched and scrambled for his door, slamming it shut before Heero could get too close.

Heero paid him no mind, making his way to a window with a view of the blustery afternoon sky.

He let himself take a long, deep breath, the tension melting from his body. He already had several new operations fomenting in his head, and finally the peace of mind to attend to them. He also had real backup, if the situation called for it, and for the first time he found the concept promising rather than irritating.

With Duo as he was, it also made him wonder what the other three Gundam pilots might be capable of, their skills and motivations. Actually curious, Heero made a decision to research them carefully instead of writing them off as irrelevant. While the world at large might never know a thing about any of them, that was no reason for them to be invisible to each other. 

_-_

_-[Afterword](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22666693/chapters/56441485) -_

_-_


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